


The Ornate Choker

by GirlAhgase



Category: Kpop - Fandom, Monsta X
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Cute, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Model, Strangers to Lovers, designer, fashion - Freeform, idol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:35:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23107846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlAhgase/pseuds/GirlAhgase
Summary: Hoseok doesn't usually dress idols, especially those that are cold and detached but he doesn't expect a fallen angel to walk into office, who needs his love and protection.Will his fallen angel ever understand the importance of the ornate choker?Their friends tag along for the ride as each embarks on their own adventureAU Series: Same universeThe Ornate Choker by GirlAhgase - Hyungwonho POVRIABB - Showki POVPuppy Palace by Kpop_Multi1028 - Jookhyun/Min POV
Relationships: Hyungwon/Wonho, Hyungwonho
Comments: 31
Kudos: 88





	1. The Winter Collection

**Author's Note:**

> This is the revised version of chapter 6, it is here in full this time! Sorry everyone!

Hoseok pushed his glasses up his nose and tried to concentrate. The pile of fabrics laying on his desk bothered him, agitated him, but he couldn’t put his finger on what the problem was. They were beautiful and felt soft to the touch which had been his spec when he had requested samples to consider using in his new collection, so why didn’t they make him happy?  
The door opened and Dani came in, ‘Mr Lee, I’m sorry to interrupt but the CEO of Starship Entertainment is on the phone again about the appointment to meet their male idol. He’s rung every day and is insistent about agreeing a meeting. Hoseok looked at her blankly and she sighed. ‘You don’t remember do you?’ He had the courtesy to look embarrassed, ‘sorry Dani but its these fabrics, I just don’t know why I can’t feel right about them, why don’t they please me?’ Dani smiled gently at him, she knew that it was pointless to try and drag him into the real world until he could resolve his feelings around the fabrics. ‘What do you need to see before deciding if this young man can wear your designs?’ she gently questioned him. ‘Hmm?’ Hoseok responded, obviously not listening. Dani took a deep breath and counted silently to 10. Working for this man was an absolute dream, he was kind and courteous, mindful of her opinions and feelings. He was beautiful inside and out and incredibly gifted. His designs were beautiful riotous designs that wrapped and celebrated your body, he catered for all sizes and shapes, fully embracing self-love but he was eccentric, obsessive and often disconnected from the world around him. Dani’s job was to ensure his world continued to function around him as he channelled his artistic brilliance into his designs. She took a deep breath and asked him again ‘Mr Lee, concentrate for a minute! What information do you need to consider him for your collection?’ She had managed to hook his attention for a second and he considered her question. ‘I need to see a portfolio as a minimum, they said he’s in a band so I’d like to see some of their stuff, see what kind of vibe he has, what does he wear and how does he express himself. I suspect he will look just like the other conveyor belt idols’ he stopped for a second and then smiled at her ‘Does that answer your question, ok?’ She smiled back ‘Yes sir it does, I will ring the CEO back and request the information you need’ She turned to leave and was surprised when he softly said her name. She turned back a question on her face. ‘Dani, how many times have I said not to call me Sir, after 4 years I would have thought you would have stopped’ he frowned at her as he spoke. She huffed and answered him ‘I’ve told you numerous times you are Mr Lee in the office, and I will show you the appropriate respect and use Sir when talking to you. You want to buy me dinner next month when we are in Italy then I will call you Hoseok, and now I’m leaving your office, SIR!’ and she left quickly to the sound of his explosive laughter.  
She looked up the number for Starship Entertainment and rang the CEO’s office. He was unavailable so she gave his assistant the information needed before an appointment could be agreed. It took 3 attempts before Dani was satisfied that she understood what was required. They guaranteed the information by the following Monday.

When Dani arrived at work after the weekend, she found a large envelope on her desk. She called the new intern who was busy making coffee for Mr Lee, he informed Dani Hoseok had been here all weekend again. She asked him about the large envelope, and he said a courier had delivered it early this morning just as the office had opened. She ripped open the envelope expecting it to be the requested information from Starship but pulled out a beautiful portfolio folder. The cover was an intricate design of pink and peach flowers with delicate H’s and C’s hidden within them. Dani was surprised at its delicacy and couldn’t stop her fingers gently tracing the flowers on the cover. There was a handwritten note attached from Chae Hyungwon stating it was his personal portfolio and he would prefer Mr Lee to look at this instead of anything the company forwarded to him. Dani raised her eyebrows at the notes contents but took it into Hoseok’s office and left it on his desk surprised at his empty room but then she heard the shower running in his private bathroom, she wondered when he had last gone home. She returned to her desk and started working through the avalanche of messages and emails that had accumulated over the weekend. The deadline was getting tight for the first designs and she knew different departments were getting jittery at the lack of any new ideas from their boss.  
Later that afternoon when moving the fabric samples from his desk to the coffee table to allow him to spread out Hoseok came across the folder. The swirling pattern of the flowers and colours caught his eye and he opened it up after quickly reading the note. He looked at the images within and was surprised at the face on show, whatever he had expected it wasn’t this. The images showed a tall slender man with a beautiful face but completely emotionally closed, Hoseok couldn’t read anything about him from the images and he was very good at reading models. He traced the young mans curved lips in the pictures with his fingers fascinated by their unusual shape. He reluctantly closed the folder and turned his attention back to the fabrics and the basic drawings he had completed but they still didn’t feel right, the phone buzzed on his desk and he grabbed it and answered, he heard Dani’s laughing voice ‘Mr Lee your partner in crime is on the phone, he sounds really flustered, he’s managed to cut me off twice already!’ Hoseok grinned and told Dani to put him through. 

‘Shownu’ he shouted down the phone ‘what the hell was that e-mail you sent earlier? It doesn’t make any sense!’ he heard Shownu breathing heavily and a hurried apology to someone, ‘I was in the library and there was this librarian and then the computer wouldn’t work and there was this really interesting smell and then ……the brown eyes, they looked at me…’ Hoseok felt his amusement rise at Shownu’s garbled answer. ‘Buddy you aren’t making a lot of sense, slow down, are you saying the librarian was cute, was she pretty?’ his response seemed to make Shownu even more flustered ‘No, not a she, a he and he was …., he was….’ ‘He was what?’ Hoseok almost shouted fascinated at the thought of Shownu being flustered by a man, must be quite a man he thought.  
Shownu had been Hoseok’s first muse, their friendship was his bedrock, Shownu was always there for him. He had designed his first clothes for his wonderful body, his broad shoulders had been Hoseok’s temple of worship and eventually Shownu had agreed to model the designs publicly. He had had a short, very successful career as the face of the Wonho Design House but had stepped away from that as soon as Hoseok’s fashion brand was established. But they stayed close and supportive especially now that Shownu was trying to change his career.  
‘When are we meeting for lunch?’ Hoseok asked and Shownu promised within the next couple of days but pointed out that Wonho was the problem when it came to meeting up not him. Hoseok laughed and ended the conversation by shouting ‘Send me a bloody e-mail I can read’ and then hung up the phone still laughing.  
It was late afternoon when Dani entered his office and couldn’t help feeling that a tornado had passed through at some point. Fabrics, drawings, pens and cups were scattered everywhere. Hoseok was sprawled out on one of the sofas with his eyes closed humming a song quietly. This wasn’t a good sign, when he was in a frenzy of designing, he was focussed and organised none of this was evident today. He was dressed all in cream, tight cream pants encased his thighs showing the results of his regular gym sessions, he had a softly floating long shirt which had drifted open over his torso, his short cropped fluffy jumper not obscuring the view of his muscled abdomen. Dani looked at him and felt the love in her heart, she wished she could find someone to love him like he deserved. Sometimes he seemed so lonely that she hated leaving him to return to her adorable husband. She hated to disturb him but there was a visitor waiting. ‘Me Lee?’ she softly asked ‘Are you happy to see Mr Chae, he’s in the outside office. He said he wanted to check you received his portfolio’ Hoseok sat up frowning and looked around the office. ‘He’s here now?’ Dani nodded in response. ‘Ok send him in, but I’m not apologising for the mess’ he looked like a petulant child and Dani grinned at him saying ‘I never said you had too’ as she walked back to the office door hearing his chuckle in response.

Within a minute the door opened again, Hoseok stood up from the sofa as the young man from the photos entered the room, he took a few seconds to see if he could read anything from him in person but he appeared coldly chiselled from marble. He walked towards Hoseok and then bowed respectively, he returned the bow and then extended his hand in the western manner. Mr Chae looked surprised but reached out and clasped his hand in response. His hand felt cold and delicate in Hoseok’s large warm palm and he wondered if this young man ever warmed up – physically and emotionally. He was taller than Hoseok, not by much, but he hadn’t realised how tall he was, he was sure that information must have been in the portfolio, but he hadn’t noticed as he had spent too much time looking at his lips. The lips were now moving, and he realised he was being spoken to. ‘I’m sorry to just turn up, it’s obvious you are very busy, I apologise. I just wanted to confirm you had received my portfolio and not the one from the company. I also brought over a laptop with the clips you wanted from our music videos and interviews. There are also some clips about my previous modelling experiences’. He waited patiently for Hoseok to respond, he knew he was being examined so he stood quietly still and allowed the older man’s eyes to sweep over him without feeling any embarrassment. He was used to being stared at and no longer felt any response to it happening even close up. He took the opportunity to take his own quick look at the designer his company was desperate to dress him and was fascinated by his softly beautiful appearance that didn’t match his obvious physical strength. He looked so safe, but he couldn’t understand why he felt like this about a stranger. He was careful to ensure none of his thoughts and interest were evident on his face like always.  
Hoseok felt his inner frustration about this man, why couldn’t he read anything. He decided that it was because there was nothing there to read, another conveyor belt idol being thrown at him to dress like a doll to enhance his companies fanbase. He was tired and frustrated and couldn’t muster the energy to let this drag on for too long, so he decided to cut this visit short and get the young idol to leave as soon as possible.  
‘I received your portfolio but I’m sorry you have nothing unusual about your face, you are very pretty by Korean standards and you have the perfect body to model the men’s winter collection but you are too clean and perfect, you have no darkness. No passion’ Hoseok moved behind his desk and sat down in his seat and looked at Hyungwon intently for a reaction. After a few seconds Hyungwon responded, ‘It would be more helpful if you could be more specific, what’s wrong with how I look, how can you tell about passion?’ Hoseok took a deep breath and decided brutal honesty was the best approach and hopefully it would scare this young idol off, ‘You look all clean and perfect but I want someone who looks as though he spend the night being destroyed by his lover, preferably a male lover, preferably older and he may be modelling my clothes but he’s just itching to get back to his lovers bed who I might add he adores’ Hoseok waited a few seconds wondering if he had gone too far and shocked the young idol before looking up at Hyungwon to see if he was ready to bolt.  
Hyungwon had already lowered his eyes at the imagery Hoseok described, the thought of being this man’s lover rolled across his mind, he’d never been loved by a man, would he be gentle with him, what would it feel like to be held safe by those wonderful arms that even his jumper was struggling to contain? The imagery became stronger as he pictured being touched by the hands laying still on the desk in front of him. He felt the heat pour through him as the images became more intimate, he heard Hoseok cough and looked up suddenly while drowning in images of wrapping himself around his powerful body.  
Hoseok’s eyes were caught into the gaze of a beautiful creature emerging before him, his lips were slightly parted, and he looked at Hoseok as if he was the centre of the universe. He slowly blinked his eyes but didn’t break the intense gaze. Hoseok felt his breath catch in his chest, there was no air in the room. He felt his abdominal muscles clench in response to Hyungwon’s hungry look. He was like a sleek panther needing to be stroked but incredibly dangerous to touch. Hoseok was enthralled by the needy man suddenly standing in front of him, the boy idol had disappeared, Hyungwon slowly used the tip of his tongue to moisten his lower lip, Hoseok was transfixed and followed its path feeling intense disappointment when it disappeared back into his mouth. He imaged catching that lip between his teeth and wondered what sound he would make as he held onto it sucking gently. Hyungwon stepped nearer to the desk as if an unknown force was dragging him until it was touching the front of his thighs. He felt the devil was driving him as he lent forward towards Hoseok who held his position, the young man was almost touching him, and he could feel the heat coming off his body and was enveloped by the smell of soft musk. He bent his head to one side slightly and breathed in the musk as he spoke into Hoseok’s ear. His soft gentle voice was now husky with sexual promise as he slowly asked ‘would my older lover be with me in the room when the photos were being taken, would he be watching me as I changed my clothes and I struggled to hide the marks he had left on me as he spent the night making me call his name. slowly destroying me and marking me as his?’ Hyungwon felt a thrill at Hoseok’s sharp intake of breath and he moved back in front of his face, his eyes were dark and lustful staring straight into the older mans, Hoseok felt his gentle breath on his face and slowly closed his eyes, the gentle smell of musk drifted over him from Hyungwon as his mind replaying the images he had suggested and he tried to control his body’s response to the boys gaze. He wanted to reach out and slowly cup his cheek and bring his face close enough to kiss. To slowly nibble at those lips before holding them between his teeth. He feared he was going mad, where the hell had this response come from. He pulled himself back to earth with a jolt and reopened his eyes. Hyungwon had propelled himself back away from the desk when Hoseok had closed his eyes, terrified that he was going to make an even bigger fool of himself and was standing a couple of steps away from the front of his desk. The dangerous panther had completely disappeared and the quietly spoken innocent looking idol was back, the only evidence of their interaction was his faster breathing. He raised one eyebrow at Hoseok and cleared his throat before saying quietly ‘like that you mean?’ Hoseok knew he should say something, but he couldn’t think of anything coherent to say, he continued staring at Hyungwon trying to decide if he had just hallucinated the whole event. Hyungwon was talking to him again and he made himself focus, ‘So as I said I brought a laptop with things to show you. Do you still want to see them, or would you prefer me to leave now?’


	2. A New Muse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoseok finds his new muse and the beginnings of a new relationship...

Hoseok had pulled himself together and had invited him to sit on one of the two sofas in his office suite and had agreed to watch the prepared clips. He sat at the other end of the sofa and watched the images, he realised that the man sitting quietly next to him had two quite diverse personalities. There was a cold detached version of him especially in interviews and then the emotional version when singing and dancing. He obviously wasn’t comfortable with others touching him, Hoseok noticed his small grimaces in many of the clips when he was forced into physical contact with others. He sat back onto the sofa and considered his next move, Hyungwon had stayed quiet the whole time he had watched the clips and he turned to ask him about the performing. What he saw caused him to catch his breath, He was curled up at the end of the sofa wrapped in Hoseok’s favourite blanket fast asleep, his cuddle bunnies all around him. He looked like a fallen angel, his long dark lashes laying against his high cheekbones, which were flushed and his lips slightly apart. Hoseok felt that pull towards him with a tightness in his chest and if he was honest further down. He was comfortable with his bisexuality, he loved who he loved, not particular about a person’s outer coating, more concerned about the persons heart and soul. But he hadn’t loved anyone for a very long time. Shownu is always nagging him about finding someone to love and to love him but he remembers how badly Nina dealt with his long hours and inability to be at her beck and call. He had been alone for over three years now and had grown used to it. He had good friends, especially Shownu who he knew loved him. Dani was a constant in his life, but she had a very understanding husband who was happy to share her with him in a totally nonsexual way. So why was this young man making his so unsettled. He thought again about his transformation earlier when he had baited him that he had no darker dimension. The image of him dishevelled in his bed appeared in his mind and he wondered how Hyungwon would sound moaning his name as he made love to him. Hoseok gave himself a mental shake and lent over and covered him more with his favourite blanket. At some stage it had got dark outside, he was used to working whenever his brain demanded an outlet, but he realised it wasn’t the same for the idol. He wondered if he was supposed to be back at his dorm or if he lived away from the company yet. Did his company even know where he was? He realised he really didn’t know an awful lot about the young man laying asleep on his sofa. As he looked at him his mind began to wrap certain colours and fabrics around him, clothing to enhance his shape and beauty, his mind fired up suddenly and an avalanche of images hit him, clothing and accessories spun round in his head all flying onto the body of the fallen angel on his sofa. He got up quickly and grabbed a large pad and a handful of different colour pencils, he sat looking at his sleeping angel and stated scribbling furiously as the ideas hit him for the outfits. He drew for hours only stopping when the pain behind his eyes and the cramping in his hand became unbearable. He leaned back onto the sofa and allowed himself the luxury of closing his eyes, the colours and fabrics continued to present themselves behind his closed eyes, but now he was able to calm them.  
He awoke sometime later; it was still dark, but someone had put the small lamps on in the office. Hyungwon was sitting with the large pad in his hands looking through the images, he turned as Hoseok sat up. ‘Is this how you see me?’ he asked. Hoseok nodded ‘I’m happy do dress you and for you to be the face of the Wonho Winter Collection. My brain made the decision for me when you were sleeping, the images came fast and furious and I knew I could clothe you with my designs’. A small smile came from Hyungwon in response, Hoseok continued ‘You don’t have to agree if you would prefer not too’. His head shot up at his words and he responded ‘No, I want to. It’s just what happened earlier. When you said I was, I was ….; he didn’t appear to be able to find the words to explain. Hoseok looked embarrassed ‘it may be better if we let that be, I was out of order and I apologise’ ‘No!’ Hyungwon said turning eagerly towards him ‘I want you to make me look like that, I want the images to reflect that, I don’t want to look like the pretty boy idol but no-one has ever pulled that response from me, ever. What if I can’t do it again? Hyungwon didn’t say aloud that he only wanted to look like that for Hoseok, for him to be the older lover he had described. He looked at Hoseok’s large hands and wondered what they would feel like holding him safe, he quickly pushed the idea away and looked down at his own hands waiting for him to speak. 

Hoseok desperately wanted to stroke his cheekbone with his thumb and enjoy the feel of his flawless skin, but he remembered the negative reactions to being touched seen in the clips earlier, so he spoke to him softly. ‘We have no idea what your reactions will be but I’m going to dress you to be that person, that lover and we will present that image to the world in this collection’ He looked at Hyungwon and he nodded his agreement. ‘And now I think we should get you home’ he looked at his phone on the table and stood up stretching and realised there was a message waiting for him. It was from Shownu telling him he was going to go back and ask the librarian out, Hoseok’s face broke into a huge grin and he shot a message back to him about the fallen angel in front of him. He turned to him and said ‘it’s 2am, its very late, or early depending how you look at it, and you should get back’. Hyungwon started biting at his lower lip in response to Hoseok’s comments, the image flashed into his mind again of biting on that lip, but he quickly ignored it before his body responded, ‘what’s wrong?’ he asked. Hyungwon looked up at him and replied, ‘I can’t get in now, they lock the dorm doors at 1am’ Hoseok looked at him blankly and Hyungwon repeated ‘I can’t get in’. Hoseok sighed and nodded making a decision that may be viewed as inappropriate but he really didn’t care what others thought ‘well you’re very welcome to stay here and make use of the sofa and my cuddle blankets, there’s a private bathroom through there and clothing samples in the room over there that you can help yourself to. I still have work to do so I won’t disturb you, I will use the small lamp on my desk, and you can turn the other lights off. Do you need to ring someone to let them know where you are?’ Hyungwon shook his head in the negative ‘No they will just scold me tomorrow when I get back and I will receive another fine because of my behaviour’ ‘Another fine?’ Hoseok queried, not such a good boy he thought. ‘Yes’ he replied ‘I’ve had a few’ Hoseok laughed out loud at this and Hyungwon shyly giggled in response, while actually looking quite proud. Talk about duality Hoseok thought, from corrupted fallen angel to cute giggling baby, his first impressions had been wrong; it was going to be interesting working with this idol. ‘Can your reputation handle staying in my office all night?’ he asked and Hyungwon looked surprised at the question and asked him ‘Do you have a reputation I should worry about?’ he tilted his head to one side and looked interested at the answer. Hoseok smiled gently at him, ‘It doesn’t really matter if I had as I’m a big boy and I can look after myself, but I know bad press can ruin the most successful idol career. However, designers are expected to be a bit rebellious’. Hoseok felt the young man looking at him closely and as he had politely allowed his earlier scrutiny of him, he should now allow it in return. The observation was intense as Hyungwon appeared to be imprinting every part of Hoseok’s face and body to his memory; he was particularly fascinated in the shape of his arms. Hoseok had discarded his jumper some time ago and rolled up his sleeves to be able to draw freely and the sleeves were enhancing the muscle definition of his arms. Hoseok watched that tongue pop out again and slowly lick his bottom lip, he realised this was a sign of intense concentration for him, but he still felt his physical response to the action. He was surprised when he raised his arm and made a tentative move to Hoseok’s upper arm where the muscle was twitching slightly in anticipation of being touched, his outstretched hand remained suspended between them as he lacked the confidence to close the space. He very slowly moved towards Hyungwon turning slightly so his arm was approaching him first. He approached the outstretched cold fingers until they made contact with his warm upper arm. A slow hiss escaped Hyungwon’s mouth as his fingers curled around the twitching arm muscle, his eyes fixed on his own hand gently grasping the muscle, his thumb making tiny stroking movements. He looked at Hoseok who kept his features kindly neutral, ‘your arms are so strong’ he spoke in a quiet voice and Hoseok nodded in agreement, ‘you could protect anybody you cared about couldn’t you. You wouldn’t let anybody else hurt them?’ again Hoseok nodded, he couldn’t stop looking at Hyungwon’s face, he could see the pain behind his words, and he didn’t want to frighten him away. ‘I fight for the people I love’ he answered gently and Hyungwon met Hoseok’s gaze. Hoseok could see a glimmer of the fallen angel he had been earlier and knew it wasn’t a sensible idea to continue as his body was becoming increasingly aware of Hyungwon’s proximity to him but he felt no regret at his decision to help him make physical contact. 

He moved back slowly and Hyungwon allowed his hand to drop away, he watched him blink away the fallen angel still in his eyes and then respond to Hoseok as he told him ‘You need to go shower and then sleep’. Hoseok moved back behind his desk as Hyungwon nodded his agreement.  
Hours later Hoseok was still designing but now the fabric samples were finding homes attached to his different drawings. He didn’t seem able to stop. As one drawing finished another would appear before him, he was inspired. He stopped to stretch and flex his cramping hand. He looked across at his sleeping companion; he was stretched out on the sofa resting peacefully. He had found some night wear in the sample room and had sweatpants and a t-shirt on from last year’s collection. He had showered earlier and sat chatting with Hoseok while rubbing his hair dry, the earlier interaction forgotten or ignored. They talked about his previous modelling experiences and how uncomfortable he was with the cute idol persona pushed by his company. Hoseok watched him become more animated the longer he stayed in his company, the cold personality disappearing over time, he’s shy he realised and that presents as being cold and detached. He had curled up on the sofa with the blankets and bunnies around him as Hoseok told him stories about his early collections and Shownu’s appalling first collections including a fight with a photographer who had blinded him with a flash and had caused him to fall off the runway. Hoseok liked his laugh and the sweet crinkles that radiated from the corners of his eyes, he continued with stories of the disasters that had befallen them at the start of his career. As Hyungwon relaxed he told stories of his own disasters and explained why he struggled with the fan service that needed him to touch and be touched by the other members. He didn’t mention touching Hoseok earlier and he respected his wishes not to discuss it. He sat watching Hoseok drawing a particularly intrusive design that he had in his head just for him and saw it emerge onto the paper. He was drawing on his pad leaning on the coffee table and Hyungwon had crept over closer to watch Hoseok creating an elegant suit with a long dress jacket, after looking at him closely he carefully drew Hyungwon’s graceful neck and included an ornate choker with the design. He heard his sharp intake of breath beside him; Hyungwon’s head was almost on his lap as he had inched closer to see what Hoseok was creating for him. ‘The choker is beautiful’ he whispered quietly, he turned his face up towards Hoseok and made soft eye contact. ‘Do you know what it means if your lover puts a choker on you?’ Hoseok asked matching his whispered voice. He felt unable to break the eye contact as Hyungwon breathed out a barely audible answer ‘no’. They stayed still looking at each other until Hoseok broke the intimacy saying gently ‘I suggest you find out before the first fitting session, don’t ever let someone put a choker on you Hyungwon unless you really want them to and you understand what it means and what you are agreeing to’ Hyungwon nodded slowly and retreated back to his end of the sofa snuggling down in his blankets and cuddling one of the bigger bunnies. Hoseok chose not to explore why the thought of another man putting a collar on the young man caused a pain in his chest and a flare of anger. He continued to work on the design of the choker incorporating the flowers on the cover of his portfolio and the tiny H and C lettering while Hyungwon slept peacefully.

He worked for a couple more hours until the exhaustion overtook him, he turned off all the lights and laid down on the other sofa. He had found another blanket in the sample room, so he hadn’t had to disturb Hyungwon. He laid for a few minutes watching him, he had enjoyed having him here, he was peaceful company. Hoseok explored his responses to him, was he attracted to him or was it just that he had been single for a prolonged period? He thought about wanting to touch him and be touched by him and his fascination about his lips but knew it was not going to progress onto anything more. He was an idol and probably had a very strict no dating clause in his contract. He wondered how much trouble he would be in for staying the night in his office. He felt his arm muscles twitch at the thought of anyone being mean or cruel to him. With this quiet acceptance of his protective feelings he fell asleep.

He awoke to two pairs of enquiring eyes watching him. Dani and Hyungwon were drinking tea and someone had brought in some pastries. ‘How long have you two been watching me sleep’ he asked, ‘and that’s creepy!’ They both laughed and Dani said ‘Long enough to get bored and eat most of the pastries’ Hyungwon looked at him shyly and added ‘that’s another scolding for me if I’ve put on weight after stuffing myself with cakes’ Hoseok sat up and stretched, his shirt was in disarray and his complete abdomen was displayed to the two sitting opposite. Dani showed no reaction but Hyungwon was transfixed by his firm muscular chest, thoughts of laying protected onto Hoseok’s body ran through his mind again and he had to dip his head as he could feel his cheeks flushing.  
‘So Mr Lee, this is the plan’ Dani said, ‘I’ve already rung Starship and apologised for keeping Hyungwon so late but informed them that you had come to an agreement about the designing and started with some preliminary drawings immediately. I’ve explained the contract needs to be signed asap as you have started the work. They are in agreement. They are sending a car in about an hour to collect our young man here. I wouldn’t suggest he crashes here again; this will cause problems for him. I’m going to get the contractual papers ready for Hyungwon to take with him and you seriously need to do something with your hair!’ She was giggling as she left the room and Hyungwon couldn’t help laughing as well. Hoseok excused himself as he went into the bathroom and sorted out his appearance and brushed his teeth quickly. He threw off his crumpled shirt and grabbed a plain black t-shirt from the cupboard. When he re-entered the office Hyungwon was sitting alone looking through the drawings. ‘Do you need to freshen up?’ Hoseok asked but he shook his head saying, ‘Dani gave me all I needed earlier’ and smiled at him. Hoseok sat down again on the sofa and Hyungwon moved closer to him and said softly. ‘If something happens when I get back please wait for me, don’t give up even if we can’t communicate’ Hoseok frowned. ‘What might happen, what aren’t you telling me?’ Hyungwon looked at the floor and didn’t respond. ‘I asked what might happen, how does your company “scold” you?’, Hoseok could feel his frustration rising but also with a sliver of fear ‘Hyungwon please talk to me’ He raised his eyes and they were full of sadness ‘the company is very strict and I’m different to the rest, what I like is different, and I won’t participate in the ships or do the fan service, I hate it when they touch me and pull me about but I hate it even more when I am isolated in the dorm and cannot have my phone, the other members move to the other dorm then and I am left alone to “reflect” upon my behaviour’ Hoseok felt sick at this answer. He raised his arm slowly and stretched his hand towards the top of Hyungwon’s head projecting his intention to touch him, Hyungwon watched him intently but made no move to avoid the touch. Hoseok gently stroked the top of his head and watched enthralled as he made little kitten noises of pleasure, he let his hand drift down to cup his cheek and Hyungwon pushed his face further into its protection. They sat there for a while watching each other as Hoseok gently stroked his cheek with his thumb. There was a discrete tap on the door and Dani entered, she watched Hoseok lower his hand and she smiled at them both. ‘I’m afraid your driver is here to collect you, this is for you to give the CEO, it’s all the paperwork. These are our numbers, office and personal, so you can get us at any time, The last number is a man called Shownu, he is Hoseok’s best friend and emergency contact, if you can’t get in contact with us then try Shownu, you can depend on him 100 percent’ she smiled softly at Hyungwon ‘remember what I told you’ and he nodded in response. ‘Is it ok to hug you’ she asked, and he nodded again. She wrapped him in a huge hug and Hoseok watched him place his head on her shoulder and close his eyes for a second. The hug was interrupted by a man barging into the office ‘Boss there’s some butt-ugly man storming about the lobby because the person he has come to collect is keeping him waiting’ he stopped when he saw Hyungwon ’ah, sorry, I’m guessing that’s you’ and he bowed politely towards him. ‘I must go’ Hyungwon said walking out of Dani’s hug. He turned to Hoseok and smiled sadly, ‘Soon’ he mouthed and walked from the room. Hoseok went to follow him but Dani grabbed his arm, he could have pulled away from her but he would never risk hurting her, ‘Don’t Hoseok’ she said quietly ‘he knows what will happen, he’s ready for it, we just have to wait for him now’ he looked into her sad eyes ‘Are you sure’ he asked. She nodded her answer.


	3. The Puppy Palace

Hoseok charged around his office attempting to locate his wallet, why the hell did he message Shownu to meet him at 11am today, He was sleeping badly and was finding it difficult to focus. Now where was his wallet? The door to his office opened and Dani appeared ‘Mr Lee you were supposed to meet him at 11! You’re going to be late!’ She grabbed his jacket from the back of the sofa and started dressing him ‘I know, I know’ he answered ‘but I can’t find my wallet and I can’t expect him to pay can I?’ he went back to his desk and started rummaging among the material samples and pattern parts as Dani attempted to push the jacket up over his broad shoulders, she gave a huge sigh as she picked up his wallet that was clearly laying on the desktop. He snatched it from her hand grinning. ‘Any luck today?’ he asked as the grin died on his face, she shook her head sadly ‘I rang again but they still say there are no appointments available, I will keep trying’ He nodded at her and made for the door ‘You can ring me if you hear anything’ he shouted as he left, she laughed out loud in response ‘Yes and you won’t answer!’ She heard his laugh in response as he left the outer office. She stood in the middle of the room looking at the chaotic mess. She didn’t dare touch it as he was in the throes of creating and she had made that mistake when she had first come to work for him, one of the extremely rare times she had seen a flash of anger from him and even then his way to deal with his emotions was to send her home. She smiled gently and left the office closing the door softly behind her.  
The bell over the door rung wildly as Hoseok threw himself through the door of the café checking the time on his phone, not that late for him really although he knew that Shownu would have arrived at exactly 11am. He looked into the room and saw him look up and smile, no anger or frustration, just pleasure at seeing him, Hoseok thought for the millionth time how lucky he was to have him as his friend.  
The cute guy who worked in the café came towards him shouting ‘Are you a reporter?’ Hoseok looked behind him to see if he was speaking to someone that had entered with him but there was no-one else. He frowned at the angry looking cute guy ‘What me? No!’ he answered, and the cute guy changed immediately and smiled widely, laughing, and told him to take a seat. He went towards Shownu and made a questioning face at him, Shownu laughed, shook his head, and said ‘I got asked too, looks like he has VIP’s in and is in protective mode’ Hoseok nodded and wriggled his bulk into the seat opposite, letting his friends calm presence wash over him.  
Shownu just let him rant, it had been going on for 10 minutes now, He had asked him to lower his voice once when the couple at the next table were giving them frightened looks and the puppies were getting excited by his loud voice. Maybe a Puppy Café wasn’t the best place to meet a powerfully built agitated designer Shownu thought but it had been Hoseok’s idea to meet here. He had never seen him so distressed, even when Nina had left, then all he had done was eat rubbish food. The cute guy came and put the drinks they had ordered in front of them and bustled away shouting something to the group of people at the back of the café who were becoming increasingly noisy. ‘So how many days now?’ Shownu asked again hoping to get a coherent answer this time. Hoseok looked at him and blinked ‘it’s been 2 days. His phone is off and when Dani rings the company, all they say is he has no schedule and appointments cannot be booked at this time’. Shown looked at his deep frown, ‘it’s only 2 days, the company want you to dress him so he will be back, I know you struggle with being powerless but you just have to wait like he asked you’ he reached over the table and squeezed his hand. Hoseok looked up and smiled at him ‘thank you my friend’ Shownu returned the smile nodding. ‘Now……’ said Hoseok his smile turning evil ‘…..tell me about the brown eyed librarian. Has he sent the police after you for the return of the book?’ Shownu snarled at him ‘Very funny. I decided to return the book in person, I’ve been every day but he’s never there,’ Hoseok looked at him closely and saw that something important was happening for his friend, something that was causing a profound change for him, he watched Shownu’s face and then asked ‘tell me about him’ Shownu looked down at the table and quietly answered ‘there’s nothing to tell’ Hoseok snorted in response ‘Shownu it’s me you’re talking to, I’ve never seen you so unsettled by a man, so he must be quite something’ Shownu looked up and suddenly smiled, he started speaking slowly but became more animated as he talked about the librarian ‘he is, he’s small and delicate with gentle brown eyes, he smells delicious and it wafts over you whenever he is near, he has a way of talking that you just want to stop and listen to him…..and I made a complete fool of myself and he probably has me marked down as a book thief!’ Hoseok burst out laughing at Shownus’ distress. ‘Oh, you’ve got it bad’ he laughed at him. Shownu looked crestfallen ‘Hoseok he’s like an angel. There’s something ethereal about him and I’ve never thought about how a man would fit me physically before, but I look like a great big clumsy idiot around him, what do I do?’ Hoseok smiled gently at him ‘go talk to him, explain, you’re a good man Shownu and he will see that. What is it with us and angels?’ his smile increased and Shownu smiled back as he gathered up his stuff and handed Hoseok a blue folder. ‘Look over this for me and see if I’ve missed anything then I can submit it’ Hoseok nodded his agreement. ‘Do you need any work? You can always come and do some publicity stuff for me, I promise I won’t ask you to model again’, Shownu placed his hand onto Hoseok shoulder squeezing it gently and shook his head, ‘no I’m ok at the moment but I may come begging at your door in the future, you can pay today though! ‘he winked at him and smiled. Hoseok loud laughter made the puppies jump and the cute man behind the till shushed at them. They both put up their hands in apology and Shownu slipped on his coat, Hoseok indicated to him he would pay and Shownu said ‘I’m off, hopefully I can catch him today’ and he waved goodbye as he left the café, the little bell ringing his departure.  
Hoseok sat for a while mulling over his friends’ interest in a librarian of all people. He hoped this would become something for him. The tiny bell over the door rang and he watched a petite dark-haired man come into the café and the puppies rushed to the edge of the pen, he had a sweet giggle as he leant over them and stroked as many as he could. The cute man behind the till called to him and Hoseok watched them greet each other. His mind drifted to another man although much taller than the two in front of him and he frowned as all his worries returned, he didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but they were at the counter right next to his table talking. Cute guy from the café was asking the smaller guy why he had left the library early. Hoseok shot up in his chair and looked at puppy loving cute guy more closely, small, brown eyed, he smelt of flowers but in a soft way, is this Shownu’s librarian? He heard him answer his friend and they walked towards the other visitors together. Boyfriends? Hoseok wondered but he wasn’t getting those vibes, they were definitely friends though. He picked up Shownu’s blue folder and flicked through it. One set of lyrics caught his attention and he wondered if they were about his librarian, his phone suddenly pinged and he saw it was Dani checking when he was coming back to the office. He reluctantly packed away the folder as he loved reading Shownu’s words. He gathered up the rest of his belongings and slowly made his way to the counter to pay.   
Cute counter guy smiled and Hoseok apologised to him for being noisy earlier. Cute counter guy smiled and told him the total as Hoseok tried to think of a way to introduce the subject of his cute friend and decided the straight-talking approach was best for his friend’s happiness. ‘Is your friend the librarian from around the corner?’ Hoseok asked as he opened his wallet to pay. ‘what Kihyun?’ the young man answered, Hoseok nodded. ‘Yes, he’s been there since college’ cute counter guy responded handing Hoseok his change, ‘Do you know him. I can call him back if you want to say hello’ Hoseok panicked and stuttered ‘No its ok, my friend knows him not me’ he quickly said thank you and then goodbye as he left quickly with a big grin on his face, he had a name!   
He went back to the office as he couldn’t settle at home, who was he kidding he couldn’t settle at all. His mind kept wandering back to his fallen angel no matter what he was trying to do to keep occupied. He understood what Shownu had said and he knew he was right, but he couldn’t shrug the general agitation he felt.   
In his office and he himself a protein drink, he needed to get in the gym and burn off some of his feelings. He gave himself a mental shake, forget your own problems you have important news for your best friend. Now find him! He rang Shownu’s phone a couple of times with no response and then panicked that he may be with his librarian and he’d be interrupting. He walked through his empty office shedding his clothes and went into his private bathroom, he threw his phone onto the side, turned the shower on, and stepped inside before it ran warm, letting the water pour down over his body, he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift back to Hyungwon, he was pulled out of his day dreams by the ringing of his phone. He turned off the water and stepped out grabbing a towel to wrap around his waist, he quickly grabbed another towel to rub at his hair. He reached for his phone and it stopped ringing, he checked that it had been Shownu returning his call while hoping in his heart it was another person’s name on the screen.   
He rang Shownu’s number and he answered almost immediately with a shout ‘Good grief you rang me back. You never ring me back!’ Hoseok laughed and told him to shut up ‘I’ve got some very important information for you so be nice to me’ Shownu snorted at him ‘what could you know that’s so important?’ Hoseok couldn’t help smiling ‘How about you buy me dinner and I will tell you’ He heard him laugh as he answered ‘what the hell is wrong with you I only left you about an hour ago, you didn’t want food then, why do you want food now?’ Hoseok stopped laughing and answered him seriously ‘My friend just come to the office will you, I really do have something important to tell you’. Hoseok could hear the worry in Shownu’s voice as he answered him ‘You ok Hoseok? I will be there in five. Buzz me in’ and then he hung up.   
It was slightly longer than 5 minutes but Shownu arrived wearing a frown ‘what’s up?’ he asked as he exited the lift and Hoseok was waiting to meet him. ‘Come into my office and have a drink and I will tell you’ he answered leading the way. As they got into the room Shownu threw himself down on the nearest sofa and sighed ‘I went to the library again, but he wasn’t there, where the hell is he?’ Hoseok sat down next to him smiling ‘Well my friend I think he was in the café after you left’ Shownu stared at him intently ‘Not funny Hoseok’ he growled. Hoseok put his hand on his shoulder and smiled ‘I’m not joking, he came to see the cute puppy guy, looks like they are friends and his name is Kihyun!’ Hoseok looked very pleased with himself as Shownu sat staring at him blankly. ‘Shownu wake up! Did you hear me his name is Kihyun and your librarian is tiny!’ Hoseok laughed as a big smile spread over his friends’ face ‘He’s not small’ he responded at last ‘he’s a perfect size…..for me’.


	4. The Waiting Game

The next 48 hours conspired against him to ensure he had no time to daydream or worry about Hyungwon and what he was doing, it also didn’t allow him much time to sleep. The Winter Collection hit one problem after another, and all needed his involvement or input and around the emergencies he had his normal appointments.   
It was Friday afternoon and Dani entered the office, Hoseok looked up from his desk, ‘He looks a wreck’ she thought, not that anyone else would know. His eyes had lost their sparkle and he was dressed in all dark clothing. The black polo neck enhanced his triangle shape and his arms looked magnificent in the tight cloth which moulded around the muscles. ‘Mr Lee your appointment has arrived, shall I show them in?’ he looked up and gave her a small smile in response. He nodded at her, she hesitated a moment and after considering her words turned back to him ‘ he will be ok, it’s not the first time he has been “scolded” for his behaviour, he told us that but it’s the first time he has had people who care and he can come back to, no-one has ever cared about him before’ Hoseok smiled at her again but this time the smile reached his eyes and she saw a flash of the sparkle. She nodded and turned to go. ‘How loud is Jackson today?’ he asked before she left the room, she giggled and answered ‘oh, only about a four’ quickly shutting the door to the sound of his groan.  
Dani re-opened the door and Jackson walked in with another man. They shook hands and he was introduced by Jackson to the man standing quietly. ‘Hoseok this is my friend Jooheon, he’s the one I told you about’ Hoseok leant forward and offered his hand while Jooheon bowed respectfully. There was an awkward few seconds, while Hoseok then attempted to bow while the other man pushed his hand out. It was all a bit embarrassing until Jackson laughed loudly and grabbed both of them saying ‘you two need to chill, come sit down and see if you can put up with each other!’ he dragged them over to one of the sofas and partially pushed them down to sit while throwing himself down onto the opposite one. Hoseok winced as he slammed into his sofa and hoped the springs survived the experience. Hoseok looked at Jooheon who appeared really tense, he wondered if he looked that intimidating, the man was sweating profusely? Jackson was lounging on the other sofa watching them both ‘What’s wrong with you two?’ he asked a bit concerned at their lack of connection, he’d been sure they would hit it off and Hoseok would want to design for Jooheon’s quirky style. There was a discrete knock at the door and Dani entered holding a tray of tea and coffee. She placed it on the table near Hoseok and raised her eyebrow at him. He frowned at her and she quickly made him a cup of tea spooning in two lots of sugar pretty certain he was going to need it by the look on his face. She turned to Jackson and asked him if he wanted his usual coffee and he nodded at her, ‘How’s working with him Dani?’ he asked gesturing towards Hoseok ‘you ready to leave him yet and come and work at Team Wang?’ Dani smiled at him as she heard the small growl from Hoseok behind her. She turned first to Hoseok and smiled at him gently before turning back to Jackson ‘Every time you come here we have this conversation and I’m going to give you the same answer, you can’t compete with him and I would never leave him, even for Team Wang’ her words were kindly said but everyone present heard her message loud and clear. There was a second’s silence and then Jackson’s loud laugh bounced around the room. He smiled at Dani and then nodded ‘You can’t blame me for trying, we all know how much you do for him’ Dani turned to Jooheon and asked if he wanted a drink, he asked for tea without milk or sugar, she made the drink and handed it to him while trying to work out why he seemed so uptight. She smiled at Hoseok who gave her a full smile in return and made her way to the door, just before leaving the room she turned back to Jackson and nodded to him to show no hard feelings.   
Hoseok asked Jackson about his recent tour as he sipped his tea, Jackson was happy to talk about the European part and they talked about cities they had both visited. Jooheon sat quietly watching both men while holding his cup tightly in his hands, he jumped suddenly at Jackson’s loud laugh and Hoseok called him a disgusting pig which made him laugh even more. Jooheon suddenly stood up and excused himself asking for the men’s room, Hoseok pointed towards the private bathroom at the back of his office suite and Jooheon brushed past him in his hurry to get there. Hoseok turned to Jackson and asked ‘Jack is he alright? He’s been a bit weird since you arrived’ Jackson shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘why don’t you go ask him if you’re that concerned’.  
Hoseok sat quietly for a few seconds controlling his irritation at Jackson’s response, he wanted to snap back that he was a designer and not a therapist but Hyungwon crossed his mind and he stood up after giving Jackson his best withering look and went through to the bathroom. He knocked gently on the door, there was no response, so he tapped again. The door opened slowly and Jooheon stepped into the doorway looking embarrassed, he avoided eye contact with Hoseok and tried to walk past him. He very easily blocked the way and put his hand on his shoulder. ‘I don’t want to intrude but you obviously aren’t ok, want to tell me what the problem is, if it’s me just say so and we can end this appointment’. Jooheon looked at him and shook his head. Hoseok waited and he spoke again ‘It’s my own fault I got all worked up before the appointment and didn’t sleep, Jackson hyped you up so much I was sure you would refuse to design for me, someone at the studio said you are anti idols so I thought you wouldn’t even see me let alone tell Jackson to bring me along’ He stopped to breath. Hoseok grinned at him and responded ‘First of all I’m not anti-idols I was just against the fact that they’re all like clones but I’m learning that’s not true. Secondly I don’t make any decisions without the other person agreeing so it’s up to us if we work together not just me and thirdly Jackson would muscle into any appointment for free coffee and company’. Jooheon laughed and Hoseok continued ‘so why don’t we go and look through some of my sketches and see if anything catches your eye?’ He nodded and walked back to the lounge with Hoseok where they found Jackson chatting with Dani again. She looked up and watched the smile die on Hoseok’s face, he glared at her and she shook her head minimally at him but enough to deny anything he should be concerned about. He nodded back at her and she made her goodbyes to Jackson and left the room. Jackson turned to them and said, ‘Dani bought fresh tea and coffee, you two all sorted?’ ‘Shut up Jackson and pour the drinks, Hoseok has some designs to show me’ Jooheon retorted and sat down on the sofa and looked at Hoseok expectantly. Hoseok laughed out loud and went and got his sketchbooks. ‘These are designs that aren’t allocated to any person or show, have a look through and see if any appeal to you while Jackson makes the drinks’ a giggle slipped out at the end of his sentence and Jackson glared at him but sat forward to make the drinks as instructed.  
A flood that caused major IT damage was the last straw on the Saturday afternoon and even after Woosung had apologised for the 100th time about leaving the taps running in his darkroom he was beginning to feel the start of a meltdown. Dani found him laying out on the sofa in his office with his eyes closed, she breathed out a sign of relief that he was sleeping at last until he spoke to her. ‘I’m not sleeping but the pain behind my eye is making me want to cry so I thought I had better lie down for a while’ She pushed herself next to his lying body and placed her hand on his forehead. ‘Do you want some tablets, or I can go and get you some tonic?’ ‘Dani, when did you last go home?’ he asked softly. ‘About the last time you did’ she answered. ‘Is Cha Eun-ho going to come looking for me?’ he giggled and then cried ‘oww that hurts’ holding his head. Dani sighed ‘I’m not going to deny that he’s worried about both of us, he even offered to take a couple of leave days and come and help, with him worrying on the phone every few hours and Shownu phoning and turning up with bags of food, they are like a pair of over involved mothers!’ Dani’s comment made them both giggle but this time Hoseok held his head in preparation. He opened his eyes to look at her, ‘I don’t even know what day it is anymore!’ She smiled at him ‘Its Saturday evening, the IT man is happy that the system is all ok now and basically we can all go home and I’m not leaving until you do.’ A male voice from the door said ‘Until we all do you mean’ Hoseok turned his head and saw Dani’s husband standing in the doorway. He raised his hand in welcome and the gesture was returned ‘Take her home’ he said from the sofa. ‘Come on Hoseok’ he responded ‘Dani won’t leave without you so I’m taking you home first. Please don’t be difficult, you may be bigger but I’m more scared of her’ Hoseok snorted in response to this but pulled himself up from the sofa. ‘Ok, ok’ he agreed, ‘let me find my coat and keys and then let’s go’ Dani turned and smiled at her husband mouthing ‘thank you’ and he mouthed back ‘love you’ smiling at her.  
They walked down to the car together, Eun-ho making general conversation about work. Hoseok watched Dani place her hand in Eun-ho’s and they curled their fingers together, he smiled at her softly and pulled her closer him. Hoseok smiled at them, happy that Eun-ho had come to get Dani. ‘Eun-ho’ he called, and he turned back to him ‘thank you’ Eun-ho nodded to him and stopped to unlock the car. ‘Hoseok you both are very important but you can’t go on like this, you need to sleep and get ready to fight for your man next week, Dani says he is quite something, now get in the car and I will drop you off before I take my wife home’ He nodded in response and climbed into the back of the car, he rested his head back and breathed away some of the tension he felt, he resisted the temptation to close his eyes and sleep as he would be home within minutes. ‘Hoseok, ring Shownu’ said Dani ‘Let him know not to bring food to the office again and that you’re going home’ ‘Shit, I left my phone at the office’ Hoseok answered and he heard Eun-ho laugh. ‘How do you even run such a successful company?’ he asked and Hoseok laughed answering ‘I don’t, your wife does!’ Dani tutted and got out her phone and began texting. He heard it ping in response to her text and she said ‘He’s on his way to yours with the food, he’d already bought it’ Hoseok laughed and nodded.   
The car pulled up outside the block of apartments and Hoseok opened the door. ‘Thank you both and I will see you Monday Dani, if you need me ring Shownu’s phone’ he shut the door and walked towards the main doors waving his hand in the air but not turning back and he heard the car pull away.   
He opened the door to his home, well where he lived, he corrected himself as it had never felt like his home. The apartment was cold and dark, and he realised he hadn’t been home in over a week. He turned the thermostat up in the hallway and put on as many lights as possible as he walked through shedding his clothes. He decided a quick shower was in order not worried about Shownu as he had his own set of keys, he often stayed when Hoseok was off travelling for shows. He stood in the shower feeling exhausted and empty, he wanted to sit on the shower floor and let the water wash away all the emptiness but was scared he wouldn’t get up again and his friend would find him naked and stuck. He gave himself a mental shake and turned the water off grabbing a towel from the rail. He wandered back towards his bedroom when a familiar voice said ‘Foods here Hoseok, nice of you to shower just for me’ he turned towards the calming voice. ‘You didn’t have to come’ he answered him. ‘Yes I know’ he said as he walked past him into the kitchenette ‘but you wouldn’t have eaten and Dani didn’t want you here alone to brood, He collected up plates cups and took them back into the lounge. ‘Sit by the TV?’ he asked and Hoseok nodded. ‘I‘ll go get dressed, I’ll be two secs’ and he disappeared into his bedroom with Shownu shouting ‘Hurry up!’ behind him.  
They sat at opposite ends of the sofa and watched variety shows, the remnants of the food sat congealing on the table in front of them. They didn’t talk a lot, just occasional responses to what they were watching. Hoseok fell asleep first and Shownu covered him with the blankets that he seemed to have everywhere in his life. He refused to sleep with his creepy cuddlees watching him and pushed them onto the floor before stretching out and closing his eyes wondering when he would outgrow the bunnies. He sniggered to himself when he realised that he had won most of them for Hoseok in the first place.   
When he next opened his eyes, it took him a while to work out where he was. He could hear the gentle snoring of another person and when he looked down the sofa Hoseok was sleeping on his side with his mouth hanging open, not quite the glamorous designer now Shownu thought grinning. He kicked his leg out making contact with his thigh, ‘get up Hoseok’ he grunted as he made contact again with his foot, Hoseok grunted and kicked him back, ’Shut up, it’s too early!’ ‘Actually, I think it’s kind of late ‘he answered swinging his legs off the edge of the sofa and heading towards the bathroom. ‘You want coffee’ Hoseok shouted after him and got a grunt in reply he assumed was a yes. Hoseok checked Shownu’s phone and saw it was 4pm, they had slept most of the day after their all-nighter. Shownu appeared sometime later, showered and wearing Hoseok’s clothes ‘I helped myself, hope that’s ok?’ he said sitting down at the breakfast bar with his friend. Hoseok smiled in response and then said, ‘I’m going to hit the shower and then why don’t we go to the pool and gym. But first can we swing by my office to collect my phone please?’ Shownu nodded in agreement and sipped his lukewarm coffee. ‘Make more coffee’ Hoseok shouted as he walked into the bathroom.   
Early Monday morning Shownu slipped out of the flat after checking on Hoseok. He was sleeping peacefully in his bed with a huge bunny encircled in his arms. They had spent time at the gym and swum laps together on Sunday and spent time talking, something they hadn’t managed in years. They had avoided the subject of their hearts and just focused on their lives and the future they wanted. When it came to the time to leave, he left a note on the side and went to find his car in the downstairs garage.


	5. The Angel's Return

It was first thing on the Monday morning. Hoseok had woken to find Shownu had gone and left a note saying goodbye. He felt more centred thanks to his friends’ company and the workout and swim had help to unknot some of the inner tension. He had started cataloguing the clothing in the sample room when he heard Dani burst into his office.  
‘Hoseok, Hoseok’ she called him louder when he wasn’t in his office ‘Hoseok! where are you?’ He came out of the sample room holding a jacket, ‘what?’ he responded, ‘her words came out fast but happy. ‘He’s coming this afternoon, at 2pm, they let me book an appointment and they’ve agreed the contract terms!’ They stood grinning at each other ‘This afternoon ‘he repeated, and she nodded yes. He nodded back at her. ‘At 2pm?’ she nodded again and ordered him, ‘So, clean up your bloody office and yourself while you’re at it. I need to ring Shownu and let him know what has happened. You’ve got 2 hours so get yourself sorted Mr Lee.’ He smiled at her ‘Are we back to me being Mr Lee now?’ She nodded her yes and left the room and Hoseok sprang into action.  
He paced and paced counting down the minutes. He had showered and changed into a soft pink shirt and jumper on top of black leather jeans, a studded belt was wrapped around his waist and fell parallel to one of his thighs, his silver white hair with blue tips was neatly arranged and he resisted the urge to drag his hand through it. He felt agitated and dangerous with minimal control. He had had a quick phone call with Shownu who had begged him to calm down, he knew the risks of Hoseok acting upon emotion alone, he had promised to think before he acted but wasn’t sure if he could hold to that promise. Shownu had offered to come and be there as well but Hoseok didn’t want to frighten Hyungwon by crowding up the office.

A tap on the door interrupted his thoughts and Dani entered, she closed the door behind her, and he questioned her action with his facial expression. She walked through the office up to his desk and stopped by his side. ‘Hoseok he’s here’ she said softly, she placed her hand on his shoulder and pressed him back into his chair as he started to rise, ‘you need to be prepared and keep calm do you hear me?’ she stressed ‘he’s not alone, he has a minder with him, a very unattractive rude man, and Hoseok, he doesn’t look good so keep a grip do you hear me?, we’re all this young man has got and we have to play this right do you hear me!’ she pulled his face round to look at her when she stressed the last line. ‘How bad?’ he pushed out between gritted teeth ‘Bad’ she answered holding his face more gently ‘Are you ready?’ He nodded and she walked out of the office. Hoseok took a deep breath and waited for the door to reopen.

Dani opened the door and said ‘Mr Lee, Mr Chae and his associate are here to see you’ she said associate as if it was another name for a homicidal axe murderer and stepped back for Hyungwon to step past her into the room with a short stocky stone-faced man following close behind. Hoseok felt that he had punched in the chest at the sight of Hyungwon who was dressed in very basic black, t-shirt, jacket and jeans. The dark rings under his eyes matched his dark outfit. His skin was dull and lifeless and if possible, it looked as if he had lost weight. ‘Dani please bring a tray of coffee and tea and some biscuits for our guest’ Hoseok managed to push out as he walked up to Hyungwon. ‘Mr Chae I’m so pleased you have the time to visit us again as we have so much work to do’ he walked towards him with his hand outstretched in the western manner. At the same time Dani asked the Minder to help her with the tray and the office door leaving him no alternative to agree or appear rude. As she ushered him out with her, she shut the door behind them, turning back to raise her eyebrow at him ‘Be quick’ she mouthed. Hoseok hand was still outstretched towards Hyungwon and he waited saying softly ‘we only have minutes before your minder returns, please look at me and talk to me’ Hyungwon reached out with both hands and grabbed Hoseok warm hand in his cold ones, he raised his eyes to him and Hoseok felt a wave of anger shudder through him at Hyungwon’s pain filled eyes. 

‘We can’t talk’ said Hyungwon ‘he will be with me all the time, it’s part of my scolding for staying here with you, he will report back on everything I do, my members are very angry with me and agree with the companies actions, they say I put our reputation at risk.’ As he was about to answer him, he heard the tap on the door indicating Dani’s return and he stepped back from Hyungwon breaking their physical connection. Hoseok started talking about a certain suit material as the minder also entered the room holding a tea tray. He made a point of including Hyungwon in a detailed conversation about the cut of the suit, the material he had chosen and the embellishments he would like to use. He then asked if he could take some further measurements before he needed Hyungwon to try some samples to give him an idea of fit and individual style. The minder sat silently on the sofa occasionally staring at his phone and Hoseok decided to ignore him. Initially Hyungwon was cold and immovable but as Hoseok measured him and gently gave him small smiles to reassure him he became more interactive and involved. To anyone else nothing out of the ordinary occurred during the two hours they were together but on occasions Hoseok was able to touch Hyungwon’s fingers reassuringly and at one time when he was wrapping him a soft cream silk in the shape of a day coat Hyungwon had to place his hands on Hoseok’s upper arms to balance himself. Hoseok felt his fingers curl around his muscles and he consciously flexed them under his hands, he heard the small sharp intake of breath and Hoseok coughed loudly to cover the sound, Hyungwon’s eyes shot up to make contact with Hoseok and he quickly moved him around so that his back was now facing the bored minder while he made a comment about needing better light. Hoseok saw the flare in Hyungwon’s eyes and he allowed a flare in his own in response. Hyungwon made a small ‘oh’ sound and Hoseok allowed himself a little smile at the young man’s reaction. He placed one hand slowly and gently onto Hyungwon’s chest watching for any sign that it was unwelcome ‘So you understand now?’ he said to him, as if they were discussing the drape of the material over the idols body. ‘Yes’ he stuttered out an answer ‘and do you think that would be comfortable?’ Hoseok continued, the conversation still appearing to be about clothing. ‘I’ve no experience of this’ Hyungwon responded ‘so I would be totally under your control but I would feel safe with that’ Hoseok controlled his urge to growl gently at this response, he could see his fallen angel in there as he started to remove the soft silk from his upper body never breaking the eye contact with him. Hyungwon’s eyes were becoming stormier as he was gently undressed of the silk, it brushed against his arms and neck as it was removed, and he felt his body becoming increasingly sensitised and heated at Hoseok’s proximity and actions. This is ridiculous he thought I’m fully dressed and its only material, but he thought about him continuing and removing his clothing. Hoseok saw his beautiful fallen angel emerging and realised his proximity was caused this, he felt a rush of happiness but then concern that the minder would see the change in him. ‘Mr Chae, I need you to go into the sample room and try on the outfits inside on the right-hand rail. Please let me know when you’re dressed and ready. I will call our photographer as I need images of each outfit’. Hoseok watched him try and bring his emotions under control and he nodded at him asking ‘where’s the sample room’ ensuring the minder didn’t report back he obviously knew his way around the office suite. ‘And Mr Lee please call me Hyungwon’ he added in his gentle voice. Hoseok nodded and smiled his agreement.

He turned away from him and pointed to the door of the sample room. The minder stood up as Hyungwon moved towards it and attempted to follow him, Hoseok stepped into his path blocking it and smiled at him, if Dani had been in the room she would have called it his death smile, it had reduced a few junior staff into a hysterical mess, ‘I’m very sorry but you cannot enter the sample room, it has embargoed designs inside, you can wait here with me while he dresses’ Hoseok was damn sure this man wasn’t going into that room while Hyungwon was undressing. The minder appeared to consider his options and then conceded to Hoseok’s words and sat back down on the sofa. ‘Does the room have another entrance?’ he asked and Hoseok shook his head indicating a no. He appeared appeased by this and started playing a game on his phone. Hoseok turned back to Hyungwon with a full grin, it was a small battle but neither the less he had won. He opened the door to the sample room and pointed to the rail. ‘Those are the ones to try, be careful as some still have pins or only tacking stitches holding them together. Give me a call when you have each outfit on, we will take pictures but I also want to add accessories to some so you will need to come into this office as well’ Hyungwon moved past him into the room and he felt his cold fingers brush against the hand at his side, the prickle of awareness run up Hoseok’s arm and his muscles twitched in appreciation. He closed the door after him giving him complete privacy.

Hoseok walked back to his desk and picked up the phone pressing the intercom button for Dani, within seconds she open the office door ‘Are you calling me Mr Lee?’ she asked while giving daggers at the top of the Minders bent head. Hoseok smothered a grin as he responded ‘Are the accessories ready to try with the outfits and can you get Woosung up here with his camera to take the pictures I need. She nodded ‘The accessories are on my desk and Woosung has been driving me mad for about an hour in my office waiting for you. I will get him to bring them in, Mr Lee the commission item is gorgeous’ Hoseok knew she wanted to say more but couldn’t because of the other presence in the room so he nodded, and she smiled in response and left the room.

Hoseok heard the sample room door open and Hyungwon was standing in the doorway, he was wearing a dark blue suit made up of a long tailed jacket with a Victorian neck line, the jacket had a large tied sash around his waist in a paler blue with the ends gently falling to his knees, there was no shirt but an ornate waistcoat, an explosion of different shades of blue flowers encased his upper body. The whole outfit made him look like a regal wild animal with his beautiful white neck enhanced by the lack of a shirt, Hoseok smiled at the effect. ‘Wow that looks good’ he heard Woosung say behind him ‘are you putting accessories on or you just want outfit photos?’ ‘Just the outfit first please’ Hoseok said stepping into his professional mode, Woosung bowed to Hyungwon in recognition and then Hoseok started asking him to alter his position as he walked around him eyeing the outfit dispassionately. He asked Hyungwon quietly if it was alright to touch him as he needed to make some adjustments and he nodded his agreement. Hyungwon watched fascinated as Hoseok worked on the outfit slowing moulding it to him, he watched in the multiple mirrors in the room as his actions enhanced his body and made him look increasingly dangerous and sexy. Woosung took pictures during all stages of the changes and had obviously worked with Hoseok for some time. The main office door opened and Dani popped her head in, Hoseok nodded to her and she approached the Minder ‘Would you mind helping me again to bring in some refreshments as everyone is so busy’ this time he jumped up from the settee and nodded his agreement immediately excited at the thought of food. Dani ushered him out of the room. Hoseok turned to Woosung and asked ‘give us 5 minutes please’ he nodded and exited after Dani and the minder.

Hoseok turned to Hyungwon, ‘Do you like it, is this how you wanted to look?’ he asked pointing at his reflection in the mirror. Hyungwon nodded eagerly; ‘It doesn’t even look like me, but I like it’ he looked down shyly ‘What?’ Hoseok asked. ‘Is this how you see me?’ he asked quietly. ‘I think the next part will answer that question’ Hoseok answered as he went over to the box Woosung had brought in with him earlier and lifted the lid. Hyungwon waited for him to return, and then he stood in front of him holding an ornate choker in his hands, it was the drawing from a week ago brought to life. Small delicate flowers were hinted at in the neckband and at the front a small cluster of deep blue flowers with tiny raindrops which under close inspection were clusters of C’s and H’s. A small gothic ring embellished with tiny blue roses sat at centre front. Hyungwon couldn’t take his eyes off it, ‘it’s beautiful’ he whispered. Hoseok raised it up towards his neck. ‘This isn’t from the collection, this is my gift to you, do you understand now what it means if I put this on you?’ ‘Hyungwon nodded yes and raised his head up to Hoseok. He moved towards him and placed the choker around his neck, it took some adjusting of the back chain to ensure a flush fit and then Hoseok stepped back to see the complete picture. A beautiful tall willowy creature stood in front of him, a slightly arrogant look on his face, screaming a newfound confidence and as he raised his dark eyes to look at Hoseok the pupils were fully blown with lust and longing. He let the look drill into him, felt his muscles clenching in response to the emotions it evoked, he didn’t dare close the space between them and react the way he wanted, he needed to get himself under control, he took a deep breath and slowly released it. Hyungwon took a step towards him and spoke, even his voice held more confidence as he came nearer ‘I want you to touch me’ he said reaching for Hoseok’s hand ‘touch my face, touch my neck where the choker is’ Hoseok took a deep breath and let Hyungwon take hold of his hand and raise it to his neck. He hooked his finger through the ring at the front of the choker but was careful not to make contact with his pale skin, he used it to pull him closer. ‘We don’t have time to do this now, if I start I won’t be able to stop, we need to take this off and finish the appointment’ Hyungwon’s hand shot up to the choker and covered Hoseok’s ‘NO!’ he cried, ‘I’m not taking it off, you said it was mine’ Hoseok shushed, calming him, ‘it is yours but it’s not for others to see yet, you just wear it for me, ok?’ Hyungwon calmed down and nodded his agreement. He heard a tap on the door and knew Dani was returning, he moved his hands to the back of Hyungwon’s neck and removed the choker, this time he let his hands touch the cool skin and saw the reaction in Hyungwon’s eyes ‘Unfair’ he mouthed at Hoseok who smiled back at him.

There was a flurry of activity as Dani, the minder and Woosung re-entered the room bringing food and drinks, this gave Hyungwon the opportunity to disappear back into the sample room to change.  
The fittings and photos eventually came to an end; Hyungwon was going back into the sample room for the last time to put on his own clothes. Hoseok smiled at him gently as he walked into the room, he heard a small snore come from the sofa and looked at the minder who was fast asleep, a cold hand grabbed his wrist and gently pulled him into the sample room. Hyungwon placed a finger over his lips indicating to stay quiet and Hoseok nodded grinning at him. He raised his eyebrow in question. Hyungwon pushed the door to but didn’t close it completely. He pulled Hoseok behind the door with him, but it was open enough that they would be aware of any movement in the main office. Hoseok remained very still waiting to see what Hyungwon planned to do. He put his finger to his lips again and Hoseok nodded in agreement, he received a small smile in return. Hyungwon stood close to him and looked him in the eyes, Hoseok watched as his fallen angel slowly emerged, his eyes darkened and his pupils enlarged as his breathing became laboured, my god Hoseok thought I haven’t even touched him yet and he is transforming in front of me into my wild lover. He knew he had to go slowly and gently as he didn’t want to frighten this person away as he was addictive. He slowly raised his hand and curved it around the back of Hyungwon’s neck splaying his fingers into the end of his hair, a small moan escaped and Hoseok felt encouraged, he stepped closer so their chests touched, he felt Hyungwon lean more into him and his arms snaked around Hoseok’s waist, the contact was gentle but he had initiated it. Hoseok leaned his head forward until their foreheads were touching, he could see the storm in the young man’s eyes and felt safe to ask gently ‘you know I need to kiss you don’t you, I’ve waited a week, is that ok?’ Hyungwon gave a small nod and went to close his eyes, ‘don’t close your eyes yet’ Hoseok whispered not wanting to lose their presence yet ‘watch me’ He nodded again and Hoseok turned his head slightly fixing his eyes on the lips that fascinated him.  
He closed the gap slowly giving Hyungwon ample opportunities to change his mind or move away but he felt his arms tighten around his waist. He gently touched his lips to the others, they were soft and immediately responsive and Hyungwon closed his eyes, Hoseok increased his pressure on his lips and used his hand on the back of his neck to move him into the best position, a small moan escaped from Hyungwon and Hoseok pulled back slightly and allowed himself at last to sweep his tongue over his bottom lip before catching it between his teeth, Hyungwon gave a louder moan and Hoseok covered his mouth with his before the noise disturbed the minder. Hyungwon moved his arms from around Hoseok’s waist and raised them to clasp onto his arm muscles, his hands splayed round the flexing muscles and he made a deep growling noise in his throat, this noise incited Hoseok and he deepened the kiss pushing his tongue at Hyungwon’s lips which he immediately opened and welcomed him in, his hand moved up to his hair holding his head close, using his free arm to pull Hyungwon close waiting to see if he resisted but he melted against him to have full body contact. His tongue swirled with Hoseok’s and he moaned into his mouth. His control was slipping as his dark angel moaned in response to his every action, he could feel his body harden in response to the full contact. He pushed down his need to grind his body against Hyungwon’s. He reluctantly broke the kiss, Hyungwon moaned his displeasure and reinitiated it increasing his grip on Hoseok’s arms, Hoseok smiled, surprised at his shy angel grabbing hold of him to kiss him and stayed passive handing Hyungwon full control. He mimicked Hoseok’s previous action and swept his tongue over his lip demanding entrance, it was granted immediately and Hyungwon swept inside. Hoseok’s moaned as this was incredibly sensual as Hyungwon explored his mouth making tiny noises of happiness and discovery. Hoseok could feel his control slipping and he could no longer stop himself grinding his body against Hyungwon’s, he made a low guttural noise in response and Hoseok nearly passed out at the sound, was any sound in this world that sexy? He ground against him again and this time Hyungwon mirrored his movement. Hoseok pushed his leg between Hyoungwons and pulled him closer onto his muscled thigh grabbing the cheeks of his curved behind. he gave a surprised 'oh' at Hoseoks action and then ground against him as he held him tight. Hoseok was enveloped by Hyoungwon, everything about him, his smell, his sound, his taste, his body. He wasn't sure how long they stood there experiencing the intensity of their connection when Hoseok pulled back to look into Hyoungwons face. He was lost, his face was flushed with his pupils blown, he was devastating to look at and Hoseok felt his chest constrict with emotion. This man was his future, he knew this for sure. Hyoungwon gave a little whimper at the loss of Hoseoks close attention and he let go of his body to cup his face gently. Hyungwon made a small unhappy keening sound ‘Wonnie’ Hoseok said gently ‘we need to stop while I still can’ Hyungwon made a purring sound at the use of the nickname and raised his eyes looking at Hoseok with dark lust filled eyes. ‘Please’ he whispered gently, not really sure what he was asking for. Hoseok pulled him close again and gently stroked his hair. ‘Baby you need to calm down, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have kissed you but I’m not really sorry’ He felt the chuckle against his neck in response ‘I think I kissed you as well’ he whispered into Hoseok’s shoulder. ‘Fair point’ he responded ’I’m going to wait in the main office for you, take all the time you need, ok?’ Hyungwon nodded in response reluctantly moving away from the safe enclosure of his body and Hoseok left shutting the door behind him after letting his fingers trail down the side of his face. He sat behind his desk and forced himself to calm down, he body was screaming at him to go back to the other room and finish what he had started but he refused to go back and continue what had happened in the office. If Hyungwon was going to become his lover it would be in his bed, at his home, with plenty of time to ensure he felt safe and protected and not on a changing room floor. He looked across at the snoring minder - he also needed to get rid of him!


	6. The Planning And Protection - Week 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the revised version of chapter 6, it is here in full this time! Sorry everyone!

The next two weeks settled quickly into a routine. Hyungwon and his shadow would arrive every day at 10am to work on the show. The fittings were progressing nicely and each day a new idea would be discussed and either incorporated or discarded. As he arrived at the office Dani would make social chitchat with the minder while Hyungwon would dive into Hoseok’s office and demand his choker. He would wear it all day and then reluctantly place it back into his box before leaving for his dorm. If the Minder noticed, he never mentioned it. They always finished by 6pm, determined not to antagonise Starship in any way, they had seen their reaction to any behaviour they deemed unacceptable.  
Hoseok’s team actively participated in the unspoken plan to keep the minder occupied and away from Hyungwon. Dani was feeding him every day and he would jump up eagerly at mealtimes when she entered the office to suggest food and that she needed help. The biggest breakthrough was on the first Wednesday when Woosung was taking photos of Hyungwon in the small number of completed outfits in his studio at the other end of the floor. The Minder who had informed them all on the first Tuesday he liked to be called ‘Mike’ was an amateur photographer and was fascinated by Woosung’s equipment. A strange friendship had started and whenever possible Woosung would drag Mike off to look at lens or filters or to discuss a certain effect he was using. By the Friday Mike was spending more time with the photographer than Hyungwon. These periods allowed Hoseok some quiet time with Hyungwon, they would sit together on one of his sofas and talk about everything and nothing, Hoseok had to revise his opinions of idols as Hyungwon showed his wide knowledge and opinions about the world around him. The only place they didn’t agree was music and bickered constantly about what was playing in the office. On more than one occasion Dani had to intervene as their bickering would escalate to play wrestling on the sofa for control of the remote to the music system. Dani would enter the office, remove the remote without saying a word and lock it in her desk until they came like two naughty kids to apologise for the noise and beg for it back.  
Friday morning was particularly busy and Hoseok had other clients with appointments and conference calls to Venice and London ahead of shows in those cities. Hyungwon offered to go back to the company but Hoseok flatly refused. He spent most of the morning happily curled up in the corner of the sofa reading and sleeping whenever he wanted. Dani had ‘borrowed’ Mike to help move some publicity material that had been delivered to the wrong office, he later sat with her in the front office stuffing envelopes. If any of Hoseok’s other clients were surprised at finding an idol curled up on the end of his sofa they never showed it.  
They all met up around the small coffee table at lunch and the conversation was loud and boisterous. Everyone updated Hoseok about their areas of responsibility and he noticed that Mike was now Jacket and tie-less with his sleeves rolled up. When did he become a member of my team? he wondered as he watched Dani smiling and chatting with him They demolished the food that Dani and Mike had brought in from the delivery service and Hyungwon spoke quietly when they were clearing up before starting on their afternoon tasks. ‘Hoseok don’t forget I’m leaving early today’ Hoseok frowned and turned to him ‘Why?’ he asked. Hyungwon smiled gently ‘Dani’s not wrong about you living in a different world is she’ he giggled and shook his head. Hoseok smiled back at him ‘I’m sorry, I get like this before the shows. Tell me what I’ve forgotten Wonnie’ Hyungwon’s eyes flared at the use of his nickname and he took a sharp intake of breath, he looked behind him to check and saw the others leaving the room carrying the rubbish left from their lunch. ‘it’s not fair to call me Wonnie when the others are here’ he said stepping very close to Hoseok ‘Really?’ he answered raising his eyebrow. ‘what are you going to do about it…. Wonnie’ he said his name as a hushed breath and Hyungwon felt the heated curl within his body in response. ‘This’ he said pushing his arms around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder. He spoke softly into Hoseok’s neck ‘I have a performance tomorrow at an awards show, we have a late rehearsal today and a final fitting. So, I must leave by 2pm. I’m sorry’ he finished his sentence by placing his lips against the side of his neck and scattering little kisses. Hoseok moved his head to one side to give him further access and Hyungwon happily extended his area of attention. ‘Hoseok?’ he asked between kisses ‘Hmmm?’ he responded enjoying the attention ‘Arms?’ Hyungwon asked and Hoseok smiled to himself. He raised his arms and wrapped them around his body pulling him in close to his chest. He was rewarded with a happy purring noise against his neck from his angel. He lifted him up and spun him round and Hyungwon shrieked and giggled holding onto Hoseok’s shoulders. Dani popped her head in to find out what the noise was, laughed and left them alone, happy that they were so happy together. Hoseok slid Hyungwon back down to the ground keeping the body contact tight, he watched his face as their bodies fitted together perfectly when they were grounded. ‘Would you mind if I kissed you?’ he asked and Hyungwon moved forward the last couple of inches needed for their lips to touch. It was a gentle dreamy kiss, no one was in control, it was full of want and need but also reassurance. When they broke away Hyungwon’s eyes were stormy with heavy lids, his fallen angel looked absolutely destroyed and it made Hoseok, who was breathing heavily, feel very good. He reached up and stroked the side of his face ‘You ok baby?’ he asked and Hyungwon nodded slowly and smiled. ‘Yes, I’m very, very ok’ he answered. 

After Hyungwon and Mike had left Hoseok sat with Dani and drank tea. They checked the dates for the next month and the shipping arrangements for the international shows. When they had slipped into a comfortable silence, she suddenly said ‘I know what show his group is performing at tomorrow night, do you want me to get you tickets? You could take Shownu with you, you know he looks good when you dress him’ she giggled and silently asked Shownu’s forgiveness. Hoseok looked up from the spreadsheet he was checking. ‘You think that’s a good idea?’ he asked, ‘Would he mind if I was there?’ She smiled at him and answered ‘I have no idea you idiot but I thought it might make you happy instead of going all weekend without seeing him’, He smiled back and agreed ‘I would like to see him, I might be horrified by what he’s wearing!’ they both laughed and Dani collected up her papers and made for the door ‘I will make some phone calls and let you know if I’m successful’.  
It was a couple of hours later that she re-entered his office. He was pinning sections of material on a mannequin and she went to back out when she saw he was busy, but he turned to her and called her back inside. ‘Come back Dani, I can’t get this to lay how I want, so come and talk to me as its aggravating me’. She walked back into the office and sat on the sofa ‘I only came to tell you that I have 2 tickets for tomorrow night. Turns out it’s a function being held by the mayor and they were very happy for you to attend as a VIP. So, there’s the show and then a champagne function afterwards. I rang Shownu and I refuse to repeat what he said about attending with you but can you ring him about what he’s supposed to wear and he asks can you please make it very clear to people that he isn’t your husband, something about the misunderstanding last time?’ Hoseok burst out laughing as he remembered the last event they had attended. ‘I will call him later today, thank you Dani’ he smiled and then his mind turned back to his creation and she quietly slipped out of the room.  
Shownu arrived at his place on the Saturday at 4pm, he was showered but dressed in his jeans and t-shirt. He pressed the buzzer but let himself in calling to Hoseok. He stepped out of the bedroom and Shownu gave a ‘wow’. Hoseok laughed and did a twirl stunning in all white, ‘So I take it I look ok then he asked his eyes twinkling in amusement. ‘You know you do, you egotistical pig’ Shownu replied ‘so come on what am I wearing?’ Hoseok laughed and pointed to a suit cover hanging on the door ‘It’s all in there, I had to do some adaptions as your chest and shoulders are still so bloody big’. Shownu shrugged those big shoulders deliberately and wandered into the bedroom grabbing the bag from the door on the way past. ‘You do know that you need to find your own date for these things and stop taking me for granted to go with you, I might have had a date!’ Shownu shouted from the bedroom. He heard Hoseok laugh again ‘So did you have a date?’ he asked, ‘You battered down the librarians defences yet?’ Shownu frowned and eventually shouted back ‘Sore point actually, I got cancelled as he was summoned home by his parents, not a lot of love and support there Hoseok’ Hoseok was silent for a moment and then called back ‘Don’t they approve of his taste in men?’ Shownu walked back into the room looking stunning all in black with ornate pipping around the edge of the suits lapels and sleeves. ‘Actually, my friend they don’t approve that his taste IS men’ Hoseok’s eyes reflected the sadness of his gentle ‘oh’ in response. Shownu walked over to stand next to him and threw his arm around his shoulder shouting ‘Damn! We look fine!’ causing Hoseok to burst out laughing.  
They arrived at the event by cab, neither man wanted to drive, and they didn’t want to pull any member of the team away from their families on a Saturday night. They caused a stir walking up the front steps with their stunning contrasting suits. Hoseok fielded multiple questions about Shownu’s identity while Shownu stood to one side looking glamourous and brooding. As they reached the top of the steps he asked him ‘ If you get a load of new commissions because of how hot I look do I get a percentage of the sales’ Hoseok laughed so loudly he made the people nearby jump and people stared at them as they passed by, ‘Jesus Hoseok can you never do subtle? ‘Shownu whispered as they were escorted to their seats by one of the ushers.  
The show didn’t hold his attention and he could feel Shownu fidgeting around next to him. It confirmed his belief that many of the bands were clones as he couldn’t tell when one band had been replaced by another. He was starting to feel like he was experiencing a slow painful death when Shownu elbowed him painfully in his side, that bloody man really has no idea of how strong he is Hoseok moaned to himself. ‘Hoseok’ he whispered into his ear, ‘is that your angel?’ He looked up and saw Hyungwon walking gracefully across the stage to his starting position with 6 other members, he noticed how he moved around the others without making physical contact with any of them, you wouldn’t realise his behaviour unless you were looking for it. Shownu laughed as he watched Hoseok sneer at the clothes Hyungwon was wearing, all dressed up as a cutsie, cutsie boy. Shownu watched his face change to stunned silence when the lights came up for their performance and there was the ornate choker around Hyungwon’s neck. Hoseok thought he was hallucinating at first but then felt a jolt of anger that someone had copied his gift but as Hyungwon came forward to sing his section of the song he realised it was the original choker he had commissioned for him. Shownu tapped him on the arm ‘You ok Seokkie?’ he asked, his voice quiet but full of concern. Hoseok turned his stunned face to Shownu ‘He’s wearing the choker I had made for him; he must have taken it from the office yesterday when I was clearing up. He’s wearing my choker in public’ Shownu could hear the awe in his friends voice and squeezed his arm in support. ‘So, what you’re saying is your man is wearing your choker in public?’ he laughed quietly and continued ‘oh you are so whipped my friend’. The rest of the set continued in a daze with both Hoseok and Shownu only watching Hyungwon. He touched the choker on a regular basis as if it was a talisman for him. Hoseok felt his heart constrict every time he did it, realising how important it was to him, and sadness that he couldn’t just ask him for it to wear. The set finished to strong applause from the audience and the band left the stage after taking their bows, Hoseok watched the band members torment Hyungwon when leaving the stage by grabbing and pulling at him, anyone else would think it was a cute bit of band-play but Hoseok let out a low level growl in response to the distress he knew he would be experiencing. Shownu grabbed his upper arm and felt the muscles twitching and flexing under his hand ‘wow Hoseok why you so pissed?’ he asked is a whisper. Hoseok nodded his head towards the behaviour going on the stage ‘They are touching him on purpose to torment him, he hates being touched by other people without a pre agreement, it really distresses him, bastards!’ Shownu’s hand tightened on his arm and he asked, ‘why would they do that to him, what kind of people hurt someone deliberately? I was going to suggest we slip away now but I think we should attend the champagne reception and have a little chat with his members, what do you think?’ Hoseok turned to him and gave him ‘The Death Smile’, he nodded, agreeing this plan.  
They stood together in the reception area holding their champagne flutes. The bands were due to join them at any moment and Hoseok and Shownu were getting increasingly jittery waiting for their appearance. They heard a commotion by the main doors and guessed they were arriving, One of the hostesses appeared at their side and addressed Hoseok ‘Mr Lee we understand you have been working with one of the bands members, are you in agreement to having some photos together to publicise the Mayors fundraiser?’ Hoseok nodded and she smiled to him, ‘Would you like your…..husband?.....to be in the photos with you?’ Hoseok heard Shownu give a guttural growl next to him and resisted the urge to laugh, ‘This is one of my senior models who kindly agreed to escort me tonight, he’s not my husband, but I would like him to be in the photos with our newest model’ after nodding she walked in front of them towards the area of the commotion gesturing them to follow. Hoseok looked at Shownu and raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner and mouthed ‘Happy?’ at him. Shownu smirked at him and nodded a yes in response.  
They reached the area packed with band members; he could see Hyungwon as he was slightly taller than all the other combined artists. He stood with Shownu as the Hostess excused herself to go find the official photographer and ‘The Idol’ not even using his name. Within minutes she was back with a man smothered with camera equipment and as the people around them parted Hyungwon was standing in front of them both. The 3 men stood there for seconds that felt like hours staring openly at each other. Hoseok was aware that the Hostess was speaking, he thought she was making introductions, but he couldn’t break his eye contact with Hyungwon. He was lost in his eyes which were like a tornado pulling him into the eye of the storm. Shownu poked him in the side to break the stare and Hoseok spun round to him ‘What?’ he barked. ‘Your man isn’t ok’ he whispered back at him and Hoseok looked at Hyungwon who was starting to hyperventilate. He sprung into full protective mode while grabbing Hyungwon’s arm and smiling excuse me to the others he quickly pulled him away to a quieter corner of the room. He immediately released him and used his body to block him from anybody else’s view. ‘Just breath slowly baby’ he said, ‘nobody can see you and I’m big enough to stop anyone from coming over and touching you’. Hyungwon turned his huge eyes up towards Hoseok from his crouching position ‘How?……how?....how?’ he gasped, ‘How am I here?’ he asked and Hyungwon nodded. ‘I got a ticket, well actually Dani got me a ticket, the man with me is my best friend Shownu, do you remember we gave you his number to contact if you could never get to us?’ Hyungwon nodded, his breathing was slowing down and he straightened up to his usual height, his hands strayed to his neck and he gently touched his choker, he frowned and looked back at Hoseok who smiled at him ‘You’re wearing your choker’, it was a statement not a question and he nodded in response, dropping his eye contact again. Hoseok’s voice dropped to a husky level ‘Thank you baby’ he said and Hyungwon’s head shot up to make eye contact again. ‘You’re not mad?’ he asked. Hoseok chuckled ‘Why would I be mad, I feel proud, I just wish everyone else knew what it means, what you mean to me’ he watched Hyungwon standing up taller and prouder and he returned his smile. ‘Now do you feel up to rescuing Shownu from the others before there’s a murder?’ Hyungwon chuckled and nodded and they turned together to walk back through the room. They found Shownu standing alone with a very unfriendly scowl on his face, nobody was keeping him company. Hoseok rested his hand on his shoulder and he turned towards him making a deep growling noise which stopped immediately and turned into a huge grin when he saw who it was. He included Hyungwon in the grin and said ‘Hi, pleased to meet you, I’m your designated emergency contact’ he made no attempt to make physical contact but bowed respectfully which Hyungwon returned to a lower level ‘I’m very pleased to meet you Hyung’ he said softly. They were suddenly surrounded by a group of very noisy young men that Hoseok recognised as Hyungwon’s other members, they immediately started touching him, trying to tickle his sides, one young man grabbed him by the back of his neck and tried to pull him towards him to receive a kiss, Hoseok wasn’t sure who moved first him or Shownu but he was definitely sure he heard an angry growl coming from his best friend. They were suddenly flanking Hyungwon having pushed the other men away from his sides, they circled around the front of the trio asking who they were and why they were spoiling their fun. Shownu’s face was like granite and he looked to Hoseok for his lead, Hyungwon was also looking between the two men with awe, although he was a few inches taller than both of them they were physically more impressive than any of the men present. Hyungwon placed one of his hands on Hoseok’s arms, curling his fingers around the muscles, it was like steel, rock hard although he felt the familiar twitch it gave at his touch, Something inside Hyungwon settled, he felt safe and secure and faced his band mates ‘Let me introduce you to my two friends, This is Lee Hoseok, the designer and this gentleman is Shownu who was his first brand Model, they came here tonight to support me at our performance’ The men looked on open mouthed as Hoseok and Shownu gave them barely polite bows, neither men smiled and Shownu looked like a man ready to commit murder. He finally spoke to the young men who were looking increasingly unsettled by the two Hyungs ‘I would suggest you treat our friend with the respect he deserves, that includes respecting his wish not to be touched….’ Hoseok finished the sentence ‘…do we make ourselves clear’ he felt Hyungwon’s thumb gently stroke his inner arm and he raised his hand to place it over his hand, on the other side Shownu carefully raised his hand up towards Hyungwon’s shoulder while asking ‘may I?’ and received an affirmative nod so he lowered his hand to gently rest there.  
Hoseok and Shownu gave a powerful nonverbal message to Hyungwon’s members, standing with their hands gently resting on him. Hoseok gave them a small tight smile ‘So if you please excuse us, we will be leaving first’ he gave the smallest nod and walked away, as Hyungwon and Shownu were still attached they went with him. They made it to the seating area and flopped down onto one of the huge sofa’s there. The two men turned to Hyungwon who was smiling. He sat forward and twisted round to sit on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He faced the two men who were now giggling like a pair of school children. He waited for them to finish and to look at him. ‘Thank you ‘he said gently ‘those words seem so inadequate, but I really mean it’ Both men sat forward and leant towards him ‘our pleasure’ they said in unison and this set off another round of giggles. Hyungwon sat looking at the two men and thanked whatever god had intervened in his life for sending them to him.


	7. The Planning And Protection - Week 2

Monday morning Hoseok arrived at the office bright and early and met Dani in the lobby, he smiled at her, it lit up his face and reached his eyes that twinkled wildly. She returned his smile as they walked to the lift ‘So’ she asked, ‘Saturday night was a success?’ he nodded and turned to her suddenly, swinging her up into a hug. ‘It was a fabulous success and Shownu and Hyungwon hit it off, we had a little chat with his band members so I’m hoping everything will be easier for him’ Dani giggled until he put her down as the lift doors opened ‘and he’s coming today?’ she asked as they entered the lift. ‘Yes, they are due at 10am’ he answered as the lift doors closed.  
They arrived exactly on time and made themselves at home in Hoseok’s main office, Hyungwon smiled widely whenever they passed each other. He handed a box to Hoseok shyly ‘I’m returning this to you’ he said with no signs of insecurity. Hoseok nodded once and replied ‘I will hold it safe but it’s yours whenever you want or need it’ Hyungwon held the eye contact speaking his response and then gave the smallest of nods. They both smiled and broke away from each other as Dani arrived with drinks. They spent the morning going over the accessories for the shows main outfits, belts, scarves, bag’s and jewellery were scattered over every surface and a big part of the floor. They bickered for fun and Hoseok found out that Hyungwon was very ticklish and used that to his advantage whenever he disagreed with him. After a rowdy late morning coffee with the whole team present and vocal, Mike wandered off with Dani. They had cleared the table and didn’t reappear, Hoseok assumed she had found something that needed his ‘assistance’ to give them some time alone.  
Hoseok sat back on the corner of the sofa and opened his arms wide offering a hug to Hyungwon, he crawled up from the other end and threw himself into Hoseok’s arms laughing. He rested on his chest and carded his hands up through his blue tipped hair. ‘I love the colour of your hair’ he said leaning forward to gently make contact with Hoseok’s lips. Hyungwon felt his smiling response under his kiss and explored his jaw line with his mouth and tongue nibbling and then licking and kissing. Hoseok held him in his arms and rested his head back against the cushion letting the happiness wash over him, he loved Hyungwon’s emerging confidence and radiance as he explored, returning to spots that caused Hoseok to moan or catch his breath. The gentle make-out session continued for some time until the intercom on his desk buzzed and Dani’s voice informed him that Mike was on his way back to the office with the post.  
On the Monday afternoon Woosung had asked Mike if he would like to join him in his studio as he was working with some film rather than digital images. Mike had looked devastated that he had to say no and had looked at Hyungwon with a deep frown. Hoseok took pity on him, he hated to admit it, but the man had grown on him, Woosung had nothing but good things to say about him, telling Hoseok that he had a good eye and knew his stuff. Hoseok said gently ‘He won’t go anywhere Mike, you have my word, I was going to get him to look at the show invitations with me’ Hoseok decided to push his luck a little bit knowing how much Mike wanted to go with Woosung. ‘Unless you say its ok for us to go downstairs for a drink at the coffee shop next door?’ Hoseok held his breath and watched Mikes deep frown, he looked around the room at the expectant faces, he liked these people, he didn’t know what Starships problem was but they had treated him with respect even when he knew he wasn’t particularly welcome. He looked at Dani and she gave him a small smile and nod, everyone waited as he nodded to himself slowly and faced Hoseok ‘OK, yes, but please don’t go anywhere else and don’t be photographed’ Hyungwon made a small squealing noise and Hoseok smiled widely at him, he stepped forward and held his shoulder ‘Thanks Mike’ he said. Mike looked at him seriously ‘Just don’t make me lose my job please’ and Hoseok nodded at him. Woosung called him from the door and with a small smile Mike left. In the corridor Woosung turned to him and said ‘Thank you, that was quite a decision’ Mike tutted in response and said quietly ‘I’m not blind you know, I can see what’s going on but I’ve worked for Starship for 3 years and it’s the first time I’ve seen that boy happy. Your boss seems like a good man, I just can’t afford to lose my job’ Woosung nodded and answered him ‘If it reassures you, I’ve never seen my boss this happy either’.  
A whirlwind hit the office after Mike had left with Woosung. Hyungwon was running around trying to locate his bag and shoes, Hoseok had once again lost his wallet and Dani was trying to work her way through the piles of accessories to locate its whereabouts. ‘Hoseok. Hoseok, Hoseok, hurry up!’ Hyungwon was calling from the office door jumping around like an overactive two-year-old. Dani upended a huge pile of scarves on his desk and found his wallet buried underneath, she slapped it into his outstretched hand and shooed him out of the office with the highly animated Hyungwon. She was just collapsing down onto the sofa when Hyungwon came flying back into the office banging the door back against the inner wall. ‘Dani!’ he shouted making her jump for the second time ‘the box I gave Hoseok earlier, where is it?’ Dani feebly pointed to the edge of Hoseok’s desk while a sigh escaped her lips ‘Why can’t I just get a normal job?’ she wondered as Hyungwon grabbed the box throwing off the lid ‘Please help me?’ he asked suddenly crouching down in front of her and thrusting the choker into her hands, ‘I need to be wearing this!’ Dani felt a wave of emotion pass over her at his insistence that he should be wearing Hoseok’s choker. ‘Don’t you think it’s a bit overdressed for a coffee shop?’ she asked but began fumbling with the catch. Hyungwon looked completely shocked with her question ‘No’ he responded not expanding his answer at all while leaning down further so she could reach behind his neck to close the clasp. She was careful not to make contact with his skin although she noticed he didn’t tense as her hands got nearer to him and this made her feel happy. He stood up as soon as the clasp was closed and checked the feel of the position around his neck, he turned to her with a huge smile ‘Does it look ok?’ he asked and she returned his smile nodding ‘It looks wonderful, now go, have fun!’ he giggled and rushed out of the room. Dani sank back into the sofa sighing loudly to the empty room, a small smile crept back onto her face as she thought of their coffee date.   
Hyungwon flew out of the lift to a waiting Hoseok, ‘Come on’ he laughed grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the lobby doors. Hoseok trailed behind him laughing much to the interest of the other people in the area. The coffee shop next to their building was small with wood panelling around the walls. There were unusual pieces of art around the walls none of which Hyungwon recognised. They found a small table slightly to the side of the front window; they could watch outside without being on view. Hyungwon sat and Wonho wandered up to the counter to be met loudly by the older lady owner. He returned sometime later with help carrying the plates of pastries as well as the large iced coffees. Hyungwon’s eyes lit up at the pastries, all the size of an egg and with different coloured icings on them. ‘Oh wow’ he whispered as he grabbed a delicate pretty pink swirl nibbling around the edges. Hoseok watched him happily as he sampled the different treats, every now and then making moans of enjoyment and feeding bits to Hoseok for his opinion. After demolishing half of the pastries Hyungwon sat back with a sigh and smiled brightly at Hoseok ‘That was wonderful’ he said sipping his coffee slowly. They sat in companionable silence watching the world pass by in front of the window, Hyungwon talked about his fast approaching comeback and how much he disliked the planned clothing which was continuing in the cute theme, Hoseok teased him and asked if he wanted his designs altered to reflect this and he pulled faces at him in response. Hyungwon asked about the foreign shows and Hoseok explained that there would be 2 international shows, one in Venice and one in London before the show in Seoul which would showcase the clothing range that he would model. Time flew by and they were on their second coffees when they both looked up and Mike was standing beside them. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt but its nearly 5pm and Dani needs to know if everything is finished for today, so she sent me to round you two up!’ They both quickly grabbed their stuff to leave and Hoseok waved goodbye to the owner as they were leaving, as he passed Hyungwon in the doorway of the café he gently took hold of Hoseok’s hand, he thought it was just to move him through the doorway but as they stepped out onto the pavement he kept hold of his hand. Hoseok twisted his palm around so he could interlock his fingers with his and gave his hand a soft squeeze which he returned. If the sight of them holding hands phased Mike in any way he gave no indication of it, at their building he held the lobby door open for them to pass through without having to break apart and Hoseok smiled his thanks at him. 

The week became a blur of fittings, appointments, and meetings. On the Wednesday and Thursday Hyungwon had schedules with the members and could not come to the office. It made Hoseok laugh out loud when Mike turned up both days alone to work with Woosung sheepishly explaining they were his off days and was Hoseok ok with him hanging out with them. Hoseok had nodded and then quietly asked Dani to invite him to their shared coffee and lunch breaks, she had smiled her agreement at his inclusion.   
Early Thursday morning Jackson and Jooheon descended to look at Hoseok’s final designs. There were different piles of drawings on the coffee table when they arrived for Venice, London, Seoul and Jooheon’s designs. Hoseok was at his desk when they arrived, and Jackson came and sat on the edge of his desk as soon as he entered the office. Jooheon was quieter and sat on the sofa chatting to Dani while she poured tea for them all. Jackson did his usual loud brash job offer to Dani across the room, entertained by Hoseok’s bristling response. Jackson clapped him on the shoulder while laughingly explaining ‘If you didn’t get so uptight about it, I wouldn’t do it! I know damn well she would never leave you willingly’ Hoseok made a sour face at him which made Jackson laugh even more.   
Jooheon was attempting to move the pictures on the table to help Dani when he caught sight of the drawing of Hyungwon is his blue suit and choker, it had his name written across the corner of the design page although it was such a clear image Jooheon would have recognised him anywhere even if this was a radically different image. He picked up the drawing and turned to Hoseok ‘You’ve designed for Hyungwon?’ he asked with a raised eyebrow. Hoseok stopped sneering at Jackson to look at Jooheon ‘Yes. Do you know him?’ he asked curious about the connection. ‘Hmm’ Jooheon answered still staring at the image ‘I produced some solo stuff he wrote and recorded, was good but the company refused to let him release it, this image suits the music he wrote’ Jooheon appeared to be talking to himself as he stared at the drawing. Hoseok gave a small cough and he looked up from the design, Hoseok spoke to him again ‘He’s modelling at my Winter collection in Seoul, I’ve designed a range for him, how do you feel about us showing your designs with his, you could catwalk together’ Jackson snorted loudly at this suggestion and Hoseok threw his arm out and caught him on the shoulder hissing ‘Shut up Jackson’. Jooheon looked at Hoseok in shocked surprise ‘Don’t you think I’m kind of the wrong shape for that?’ he asked and Hoseok frowned. ‘There’s no such thing as the wrong shape’ he answered ‘there’s just you with the clothes I designed to express your individuality. Why don’t we use the music you produced with Hyungwon at the show’ Jooheon smiled and nodded asking ‘can I ask my partner about using the music?’ ‘Of course’ said Hoseok ‘We wouldn’t need to make a decision until I get back from Venice and London’ Jackson turned to Dani and asked ‘Are you going with him again?’ she nodded ‘Only the first two weeks in Venice for the final set up and then I will fly home, he will go onto London and then home at the end of the month’ Jackson turned back to Hoseok asking ‘so you’re away for the whole of April?’ ‘Pretty much’ he answered feeling a deep pang at the thought of being away that long. He looked up and caught Dani’s eye and she frowned slightly before looking away shaking her head. 

By late Friday afternoon Hoseok was exhausted when at last he could usher everyone from the office. They had a plan for the show and had agreed which outfits would be showcased, everything would be organised by the time he returned. He looked at the sofa and Hyungwon was curled up asleep in the corner cuddling one of the larger bunnies. He felt his heart flip at the sight of him and he smiled softly. At least he was safe here this time, the company knew this was an all-nighter so no repercussions if he slept here as long as Mike stayed with him. He sat at the opposite end of the long sofa and rested his head back; he would close his aching eyes for 10 minutes and then start to clear up the whirlwind mess everywhere.   
He awoke later to a warm body wrapped around his side; a dark-haired head was resting on his chest with their hand splayed out over his heart. Hyungwon had crept up beside him and was sandwiched between his body and the back of the sofa. Hoseok gently shimmied down to a more even level taking him with him. Hyungwon moaned gently and held on tighter wrapping his leg over Hoseok’s hip and down between his legs. Hoseok felt an overwhelming protective surge about this man and had to blink away the tears behind his eyes as it twisted at his heart. He wrapped his arms around him and held him close as he rested his head back again feeling at peace, an empty part of him at last felt complete. 

He woke again sometime later with Hyungwon wrapped around him completely. His head was now on Hoseok’s shoulder and he was wrapped around his chest, both of his legs were laying between Hoseok’s, he turned and kissed him gently on the forehead, Hyungwon made a small purring sound and held on tighter causing Hoseok to smile. He closed his eyes again and allowed the happiness to wash through him.   
Hyungwon woke feeling peaceful and safe, there was no rush of panic and feeling of dread he usually felt at the dorm. A strong pair of arms were around him holding him safely against his chest, feels like home he thought. He sneaked a peek at Hoseok who was still sleeping with his mouth slightly open. Hyungwon raised his hand from Hoseok’s chest and slowly traced the outline of his lips, so gentle and yet so sexy he thought smiling. He leaned forward and softly kissed him, he heard the rumble of approval in the chest below him as he started to kiss him back. Hyungwon curled his hand around the back of Hoseok’s neck and let his fingers drift into his hair gently scratching his scalp, Hoseok moaned and Hyungwon let out a small joyful laugh, he broke the kiss to ask against his lips ‘Do you like that hyung?’ and laughed again when Hoseok growled his approval. ‘Be careful Wonnie you’re playing with fire’ he warned him as he saw the flare of approval in Hyungwon’s eyes at the use of his nickname. ‘I like fire’ he whispered onto his lips ‘it keeps me warm’. Hoseok grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in for a fierce demanding kiss, he crushed his lips against his demanding entry which was given with a sigh, he plundered his mouth with his tongue until Hyungwon was moaning loudly and then he pulled back to bite his swollen lips. ‘Warm enough now’ he asked in a husky voice and Hyungwon nodded unable to string any kind of lucid sentence together. He felt safe and loved and this man lying under him was the reason he had those things in his life now. He felt brave and slowly ground his hips against Hoseok’s, whose eyes shot open and he took a sharp intake of breath, Hyungwon did it again smiling at him making direct eye contact, he had to cough slightly to clear his throat as he feared he had lost the ability to talk, ‘How you feeling now my Hyung, getting hotter?’ he slowly increased the circular grind against Hoseok and looked into his eyes the whole time fascinated by the emotions swirling around in them. Hoseok was fracturing apart, his fallen angel was laying on top of him grinding against his body and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could exercise any control, he wanted to explore and taste every part of him, to make him feel loved and adored, he grabbed his behind with both hands and took control of the grinding against him. He looked at Hyungwon asking in a low raspy voice ‘you ok with yes?’ His response reassured him as he dipped his head to gently place little kisses along Hoseok’s clavicle punctuated with a repeated whispered ‘yes’. Hoseok kissed from his neck down onto his collarbone, Hyungwon turning his head to give him better access and gently called Hoseok. This was his undoing, his husky voice calling his name. He bit down on his shoulder, gently at first, then with more pressure as he gave in to the need to mark him as his own, he gently licked the bite area knowing he had been successful and he would wear the mark tomorrow. Hyungwon was moaning loudly matching the grinding movements being controlled by Hoseok with an equal passion. His hands were pulling at Hoseok’s clothing trying to get at his body, he pushed the t-shirt up and over his head and immediately dipped down to kiss the bare muscled chest. Hoseok disentangled his arms from the material and threw it across the room. Hoseok hummed in pleasure when Hyungwon’s lips found his nipple and started gently licking at its bud. He took it between his sinful lips and started to nibble on it. Hoseok though he would pass out from the explosive reaction his actions caused and he moaned loudly pulling Hyungwon tightly against his throbbing erection. Hyungwon looked up at him from his ministrations and froze, suddenly unsure. Hoseok froze and grabbed the tatters of his self-control and slowed his passionate grinding against him. He took his hands off his delicious butt and cupped his face, his thumbs gently stroking his cheeks. ‘What’s the matter baby, do we need to stop?’ he asked smiling gently at him giving him no indication that his body was screaming to grab hold of him again and continue what they had been doing.   
‘Yes, no……I’m so embarrassed’ he dipped his head and buried it in Hoseok’s neck. He was confused, what was the problem here. ‘Wonnie, talk to me’ he asked gently. ‘Oh, don’t call me that it makes it worse’ he replied in a muffle voice. Hoseok pulled himself up slightly and pulled Hyungwon’s head up so he was making eye contact with him. He smiled at him gently and said ‘ Just tell me, is it too much, did I come on too strong, I’m sorry but you do drive me crazy and it’s hard to keep control of myself especially when you kiss me and push yourself against me, but we will only do what you’re comfortable with’ Hoseok’s brain and body screamed in rebellion at his words. ‘I feel stupid’ he whispered trying to dip his head but Hoseok held him firm and maintained eye contact with him asking ‘why do you feel stupid?’ Hyungwon took a deep breath and dipped forward to quickly kiss his lips before speaking ‘I’m so happy with you, you know that, right?’ Hoseok nodded in agreement ‘and you make me feel incredible, safe and loved’ Hoseok nodded again ‘and when you kiss me and touch me, I feel so good’ ‘what’s the but Wonnie?’ Hoseok asked gently wondering where this conversation was leading. He took a deep breath ‘I want more but I don’t know what to do, I don’t know if I’m doing it right’ his face flushed and he tried to avoid eye contact with Hoseok who burst out laughing and pulled him in close for a huge close hug wrapping him in the strong protective arms he loved. He continued to laugh as Hyungwon felt the vibrations through his chest. ‘Why are you laughing?’ he asked in a muffled voice. ‘Because you are incredible. You drive me absolutely nuts, you touch me, and I have to fight to keep control. I want to take you to my bed and make you the lover I described the first day we met, do you hear me, I want to make love to you until you can’t walk, until you cling to me crying my name, do you hear me? That’s what you do to me every single day, anything you do, as long as you are touching me, and you love me its right, ok?’ He waited until Hyungwon looked at him again, his eyes were entranced as he softly asked ‘when?’ Hoseok took a deep breath and kissed him gently on his forehead ‘when we can go to bed together in my home and not worry about being disturbed, there we can go at the speed you want for as long as you want but be warned I will want to keep you there and I won’t want you to leave me once you are my complete lover’ Hyungwon looked at him for a while and then nodded slowly. ‘It’s what I want too, I want to be with you always, to be yours, to wear my choker’ he nuzzled his face back into the crook of Hoseok’s neck as he hugged him tightly. ‘Then we know where we are, don’t we? There’s no rush Wonnie, I’m not going anywhere, I’m here to stay and I will wait for you to be free of the company and then we will make our life together’


	8. Monday 29th March - It Was Never Explained!

‘A month, a whole month!’ Hyungwon threw the pillow he was holding in the general direction of Hoseok with real venom ‘You never said you would be going!’ his voice was getting louder, and he searched around frantically for something else to throw. He tried to hold onto his growing panic, which was pushing up inside him, screaming just under his skin. He looked at Hoseok who appeared shocked by his anger ‘you never asked, it’s not as if I would see you. You have your comeback, there’s no way the company would free you up to see me!’ he saw his response was not going down well in fact it seemed to have fuelled his anger even more, he looked distraught.

‘I don’t fucking care about the company’ his voice was getting higher and louder ‘it’s a month of fan service and being touched and pawed at by the other members and I thought this time I’d have you to make me ok, to feel safe, I can’t do a comeback without you, without us’ Hoseok stood stunned realising he had badly misread Hyungwon’s silence as consent when he had talked of his Italian collection and show. ‘Hyungwon I can’t not go now’ he responded taking a step towards him ‘the trip is 3 days away’.

‘Don’t touch me!’ he screamed stepping back away violently from him. Hoseok felt like he had been stabbed in his heart, Hyungwon had never stepped away from him before no matter how difficult the situation had been. He slowly raised his hand towards him, he was looking at him in terror ‘you can’t give me this and then just take it away when I need it the most’ he screamed ‘God, I hate you, you’re no better than the rest’ Hoseok attempted to step nearer but he backed away again shouting at him to stay away. He turned away to leave the office, but Dani entered at the same time, she started to say hello, but it died on her lips as she saw Hyungwon’s distraught face. ‘What happened?’ she asked reaching out her hand ‘Don’t!’ he cried evading her hand, he quickly stepped around her avoiding any physical contact and rushed through the outer office.

Dani turned to Hoseok ‘You told him about Italy didn’t you, and I was right wasn’t I, he didn’t think you were going did he?’ He shook his head and stepped forward to follow him. ‘No Hoseok’ she said blocking his way with her hand ‘not this time, you aren’t the person he wants to see, I will go to him but wait here’ she turned away from him ‘Dani, I can’t’ she turned back and he took a step closer to her so that her hand rested on his chest, she could feel his heart hammering against her hand ‘No’ she pushed him back ‘he’s in overload and you will only increase that, you must stay here’ she hated seeing the pain in his eyes with his unshed tears but she had to make him stay away while she tried to find Hyungwon and help him. He nodded reluctantly and stepped back away from her, she turned and left him before she lost more time giving in to the need to hug him.

He walked blindly to the lift grateful that it was tucked in a corner of the corridor. He was trying to get control of the hysterical fear coursing around his body as his brain screamed at him. He suddenly bent over and dry heaved, he couldn’t stop the retching and slumped down onto the floor by the lift doors. He heard the lift arrive and the doors ping their opening, but he couldn’t move in fear of the heaving starting again. He wanted to cry and scream and run but he was paralysed on his knees. ‘Hyungwon?’ a gentle voice called him. He looked up into Dani’s worried face ‘Can I help?’ she asked kneeling down beside him. She made a move to put her arms around him but stopped as he repelled back from her ‘no, no, no, you mustn’t touch me’ he whispered, and she pulled away quickly. She sat down onto the floor near him, not touching but close enough that he could reach out to her if he wished. She waited, watching as he rocked gently attempting to sooth himself. As the rocking slowed, she spoke quietly ‘I told him to stay away but I’m not sure how long he will be able to do that. Can you explain to me what happened?’ He shook his head in small negative movements trying to suppress the need to start heaving again. She nodded in acceptance and spoke again softly ‘what can I do?’ Hyungwon looked at her with fractured pain filled eyes ‘please, get me out of here, anywhere, please’. She nodded, standing she pressed the lift button and the doors reopened immediately. He dragged himself up using the wall and staggered into the lift with Dani following ‘I think I may vomit’ he said as the dry heaving returned again ‘Just go ahead and puke’ she said softly as she turned to press the lower floor button. She looked up and made eye contact with Hoseok who was standing distraught at the far wall. She shook her head and mouthed ‘no’ at him as he made to walk towards them, as the lift doors closed, she watched him slide down the wall crying. Dani turned to Hyungwon, blinking away her own tears, who was doubled over at the back of the lift. She was sure he hadn’t seen Hoseok, he was wrapped in his own pain. She felt powerless, all her emotions were telling her to go and hug him, but he had made it clear she couldn’t do that.

The lift stopped and the doors opened, thankfully the lobby looked empty. Hyungwon had managed to get up straight and took a faltering step towards the lift doors. He put an arm out towards her and spoke ‘I think I will be ok for you to hold my wrist now, just hold it lightly and don’t pull on me, you mustn’t pull’ Dani nodded her agreement and reached out to take his wrist as if she was being run at half speed. She still saw him flinch as she made physical contact and went to pull away ‘no’ he whispered, ‘it’s ok, carry on’. Dani wanted to cry but knew he didn’t need her tears, he needed practical help. They moved out from the lift and Hyungwon followed her slowly like a zombie shuffling his feet. Dani considered their options and decided her home was the only answer. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called her husband, he answered on the second ring ‘Dani, where are you’ he asked his anxiety evident in his voice. She guessed that Hoseok had already rang him and Shownu. She kept her voice calm ‘I’m with Hyungwon and I’m taking him back to our home, but I don’t have my money or cards with me, can you meet me at the house?’ She tried to push open the lobby doors as she finished her question and came face to face with a heavily breathing Shownu bent over dragging air into his lungs. ‘I was at the library’ he panted at her trying to catch his breath. He shot a look at Hyungwon and frowned. ‘Shownu’ Dani said getting his attention back ‘get upstairs, he needs you’ he nodded and ran through the lobby past them. She could hear Eun- ho speaking and put the phone back to her ear ‘Is Shownu there, did I hear his voice?’ he asked. ‘Yes, he’s here. I’ve sent him upstairs’ she answered. ‘Ok good, I’m nearly home, so just get in a cab and I will pay when you get here’ Dani wanted to ask about Hoseok but didn’t want to use his name with Hyungwon standing next to her. ‘Dani’ Eun-ho said softly ‘he’s not good but Shownu’s there now’ she felt the tears sting her eyes, she knew she had to help Hyungwon, but she needed to go to Hoseok. ‘Just get home ‘his voice continued ‘and we can try and sort this mess’. She ended the call and waved down a cab, she had to help Hyungwon get inside as he was becoming increasingly detached. She sat next to him in the back of the cab as he gently rocked. He was mumbling to himself and she caught bits about his comeback and needing Hoseok to stop the hatred of being touched. He started to cry softly as he rocked and kept repeating ‘I have no-one’ as Dani let go of the tears she was holding and cried silently with him.

Hours later Dani sat curled up in the chair in the small attic room. Hyungwon was sleeping peacefully in the single bed next to her chair. Thank goodness they had at last removed all the boxes and made it into a small studio flatlet for when her daughter visited from school. She pulled the blanket up around her and listened to the male voices she could hear downstairs. She could identify the 3 most important men in her life speaking softly. At least it was calmer now, Hoseok had been very distressed when he had arrived with Shownu and had only calmed down when Eun-ho had threatened to throw him out of the house. Throughout she had heard Shownu’s calm voice begging him to be reasonable when he was threatening to barge upstairs and forcible take Hyungwon home with him. The sedative for Hyungwon had taken effect quickly after Dani had helped the doll-like man change into a pair of her husbands’ PJ’s and get into the bed. He had spoken to her only once when she was tucking the blanket around him, he didn’t open his eyes or acknowledge her, he just spoke. ‘Dani, please don’t leave me alone’. She felt her tears fall again as she gently answered him ‘I will be right here’ and pulled the chair closer to the bed.

She didn’t know how much time had passed although the room was now full of dark shadows. She felt Hoseok’s presence by her shoulder and turned to him. He knelt beside her and rested his head against her arm, she gently stroked his head with her other hand and felt him start to quietly cry. She turned in the chair and hugged him tightly, he wrapped his powerful arms around her and returned the hug. ‘Dani’ he whispered, ‘I’ve hurt him, haven’t I?’ She nodded against his body and she felt him crying harder. She spoke to him in a hushed voice trying to sooth him ‘I think you, …no we,… greatly underestimated how much strength he had gained from having you there to back him up and help him deal with the parts of being an idol he hated’ Hoseok pulled in a ragged breath and answered her ‘you warned me but I didn’t listen, we’re supposed to fly out tomorrow night, what do I do?’ She took a deep breath knowing whatever decisions were made now would be painful. ’You have to go, we know that, you were naive to think he understood that you were going just by discussing the shows, how would he know? Shownu will look after him while we’re gone and you will have to try and fix this when you get back’ Hoseok pulled back from her hug and cried while talking ‘I’ll be gone for a month, what if it isn’t fixable? I can’t lose him Dani, I can’t’ She shushed him gently and stroked his head ‘you also have to be reasonable, he has a comeback starting Friday, he can’t be falling apart trying to deal with the consequences of this’ she pulled him back into the hug and he rested his head on her shoulder. He felt a different hand on his back and looked round to see Shownu standing behind him. ‘Hoseok, what do we do about his company?’ he whispered nodding towards the sleeping Hyungwon ‘Its getting late. Mikes downstairs with Woosung, they are happy to run interference, but they need to know what the plan is’ Hoseok rested his forehead back against Dani’s shoulder and whispered, ‘I have no idea’. Dani shifted in the chair and indicated they should all go back downstairs, and the men nodded in agreement, she propped the bedroom door open so she could hear if Hyungwon woke and needed her and followed them downstairs. There were grim faces there to meet her. The 5 men in the room all faced her waiting for her to speak and tell them what was the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry...


	9. The Awful Goodbye

They sat in Eun-ho’s study looking at each other. Dani had made coffee for everyone, even she needed the caffeine. Mike had just finished explaining his conversation with Starship and they had accepted that they were both staying with Dani due to mechanical issues with the car. The uneasy silence descended again when he had finished talking. Dani sighed into her coffee and she felt the men tense around her as if waiting for her words of wisdom. She looked up into 5 unhappy faces and took a deep breath before speaking, ‘This is a mess’ she started and was startled by 5 nods of agreement ‘whatever we attempt to arrange Hoseok and I fly out tomorrow, we have almost no time to agree this, also with Hyungwon asleep we need to do this without him and hope he agrees’ she didn’t know whether to be amused or irritated by the nodding heads. She waited for someone to contribute something but they all just sat watching her. ‘Any ideas?’ she asked, and they all looked at her blankly ‘I’ll take that as a no’ she thought to herself.

A quiet voice next to her spoke ‘We have to work out a way for him to feel confident and protected while we are gone, especially because of the comeback schedule’ Hoseok seemed to have shrunk in size during the last few hours, his inner vibrancy was greatly diminished and he seemed exhausted. She reached across to stroke his head and smiled at him softly. Mike leant forward and said ‘I will be with him the whole time, I can make sure of that even if he is allocated to another person, most of the team find him difficult to deal with so they will be happy to swap with me’ the other people all nodded their agreement, Woosung chipped in ‘I can find reasons to need him at the studio every couple of days for shoots and agreeing proofs’ this was again greeted with nodding heads, Dani felt a slight lifting of the black mood they had all embraced. ‘what if we book appointments right through the next two weeks. I will be back from Venice then and I can book more when I get back. If we make sure he’s having contact at least every two days and Mike can keep his eye on the situation in between’ this time the nods were more animated and Shownu suddenly learnt forward so he could see Hoseok around Dani, ‘I will stay in touch and introduce him to Kihyun and his friend is Minhyuk, we can meet him at The Puppy Café as he is the owner’. Dani stifled a yawn and put her empty cup down. ‘Now we all need to sleep. Hoseok I will see you at the office at 8.30am’, she gave an inner groan when she glanced at the clock that said 1am, ‘Mike I will show you the spare room to sleep in’ He nodded in response and stood up to follow her out of the room. He stopped by Hoseok ‘I will look after him while you’re away, I promise’ Hoseok gave him a tight smile and Mike wandered out still holding his cup. Hoseok turned to Eun-ho and asked, ‘Can I just go see him before I leave?’ Eun-ho turned to look at Shownu and raised his eyebrow, Shownu grabbed Hoseok’s elbow gently and pulled him through the door ‘Come on. I will walk up with you to say your goodbyes for now’ Hoseok nodded and allowed himself to be pulled away. Woosung turned to Eun-ho ‘Your wife is a pretty incredible woman’ he commented picking up the dirty cups and walking towards the kitchen, ‘I’m fully aware of that ‘ he answered as Dani came back into the main lounge area and rested her head on his shoulder ‘Where’s Hoseok?’ she asked and he pointed to upstairs ‘is that wise?’ she asked frowning. He smiled at her gently ‘Shownu is with him so I thought it would be safe’ She nodded her agreement and wrapped her arms around his waist finding the anchor she needed.

Hoseok stood in the doorway watching Hyungwon sleeping peacefully. Shownu stood behind him with his hands resting on his shoulders. He spoke quietly to Shownu ‘I’m going to be away a month, what if he’s not here when I get back? I don’t think I could cope with that Shownu’ he felt his hands tighten on his shoulders ‘Look after him for me please, you understand what the problems are, don’t let people paw at him and upset him’ Shownu made a sound in his throat in response and Hoseok nodded ‘Thank you my friend. Thank you for not pointing out what a screw up I am’ Shownu’s quiet voice washed over his shoulder ‘You don’t need me to tell you that, you already know, no need for me to rub it in!’ Hoseok leaned back against Shownu’s chest and let his calm presence seep into him. They stood quietly as Hoseok watched Hyungwon, he drew in a deep breath and pulled himself away from Shownu ‘Ok, let’s go, I know he’s safe here and Mike will get him back to the company when he wakes up’. He felt the gentle squeeze of his shoulders and Shownu turned and left giving him some time alone. Hoseok felt his eyes fill with tears again as he looked at his man sleeping, ‘I’m sorry’ he whispered before turning and leaving the room.

It was 9am and 4 weary people sat sipping their hot coffee’s in Hoseok’s office. Shownu had just got off the phone and gave Hoseok a thumbs up and received a tight smile in response. He grabbed his coffee gratefully and joined them. Shownu had slept at Hoseok’s flat, both falling fully dressed onto the bed as soon as they had got inside, too tired to deal with any necessities. The alarm had rudely awakened them, and they had showered and dressed in almost silence, Shownu was wearing some of Hoseok’s clothes and when he had entered the office Dani had made a comment about him becoming a company model again. It was the first genuine smile from Hoseok in response to Shownu’s unrepeatable answer.

Hoseok cleared his throat and gained their attention, ‘Ok where are we at with the plan?’ He looked first at Dani who nodded and answered ‘Starship have agreed the appointments for the next 2 weeks, as far as they are concerned they are for fittings and publicity photos, each appointment is for 3 hours so that gives Shownu some flexibility in what to do’ Shownu nodded and chipped in ‘The Puppy Palace is only round the corner and the Library with Kihyun is walkable from here’ Hoseok giggled and tutted ‘Use Mike and the car, don’t be walking around the streets with him you idiot’ Shownu blushed red and nodded in agreement. Woosung said suddenly ‘You do realise that I actually need to take some publicity shots don’t you, he can’t just be running off with Shownu every appointment!’ Hoseok nodded and asked Shownu ‘Is it too much to ask you to sort this out with Woosung so that the Collection photos are done?’ Shownu shook his head and took a large drink from his coffee before asking the group ‘What do we do if he doesn’t agree with this plan?’

‘Why don’t you ask him?’ said a voice from the door and the group spun round to see Hyungwon and Mike standing in the doorway. Both had obviously showered and changed, Mike was standing slightly behind a grim faced Hyungwon, Mike made an apologetic shrug towards the shocked faces. Dani jumped up and rushed towards Hyungwon but ground to a halt as she watched him flinch and step back from her fast approach. She quickly masked her shocked hurt reaction and gestured towards the sofa ‘would you like to join us; I will get you a coffee or tea?’ He inclined his head in agreement and walked towards the sofa without making eye contact with any of the others present. Shownu and Hoseok scrunched up to the end of one sofa but he went and sat down opposite them next to Woosung leaving a big space next to him for Mike. Dani asked Mike if he wanted Coffee before leaving the room. At the door she stopped to look back at Shownu and Hoseok questioning with her eyes, both gave her their own questioning gaze in response. An unsteady silence descended after Dani had left the room. Shownu could feel Hoseok’s agitation spiralling next to him and he gently placed his hand on his thigh that was vibrating next to him stilling the movement. Hyungwon appeared to be carved from ice, his face was frozen with no emotions being displayed to the others present. Nobody felt brave enough to break the silence. Shownu heaved a sigh of relief as Dani returned to the room carrying a tray of tea and coffee and a pile of sweet biscuits. Mike jumped up immediately and helped her arrange things on the table. It took a couple of seconds to serve the new drinks to everyone and for people to settle back on the sofa. Dani squashed herself next to Hoseok and Shownu, she felt safe there and decided to explore that thought at a later date. Mike, Hyungwon and a very uncomfortable Woosung sat opposite them. Everybody waited while Hyungwon sipped his tea, Hoseok watched transfixed as his beautiful lips curled round the edge of the teacup feeling the familiar dragging response in his abdomen.

Hyungwon placed his cup down onto the table and the atmosphere in the room became charged as he took a deep breath, he made eye contact with Dani and spoke softly ‘I’m here to hear the plan for while you are away with Hoseok’ there was the smallest delay before he said Hoseok’s name ‘Mike says you’ve discussed what we are doing, I want to know please’ He sat rigidly still as he spoke and didn’t break his eye contact with Dani throughout. Dani looked along the sofa at Hoseok and Shownu, but they were staring at Hyungwon. She looked back at him and cleared her throat gently finding his unemotional eye contact a bit unnerving. ‘We fly out this evening to Venice’ she saw the slightest flinch in response to this bit of information ‘We will be there for 2 weeks and then I return home when Hoseok flies onto London for a further 2 weeks’ she heard a small noise from her left and out of the corner of her eye she saw Shownu increase the grip on Hoseok’s thigh. ‘During this time we have agreed appointments with the company, they are under the impression they are for fittings and publicity but we had hoped you could use them to get away and spend some time with Shownu, his friends and Woosung’ Dani took a breath and desperately tried to read some sort of response from Hyungwon to the plan but he remained coldly impassive ‘when I get back I will book some more appointments and I hope you will feel happy to spend some time with me as well’ Dani stopped and looked at Hyungwon, he broke his eye contact with her and moved to Shownu ‘Are you happy to do this when…..the others……are away?’ he asked in his coldly detached voice. Shownu felt the leg muscle twitching wildly under his hand and he pinned it tighter to the surface of the sofa as he answered in a voice as calm as Hyungwon’s ‘Yes of course. I’m very happy to spend some time with you, I’m just as happy to take a back seat if you need some time to be alone’ he felt the thigh under his hand relax slightly and he reduced the pressure in response to this. Hyungwon nodded and then turned slightly to face Woosung ‘And you? are you happy to do this?’ Woosung nodded his yes ‘You do need to come and do some sessions with me to finish the photos for pre-publicity but I’m just as happy for you and Mike to come and chill at my studio’ he tried a gentle smile and although he didn’t return it Hyungwon nodded before turning to his other side to face Mike, for the first time his face didn’t appear so coldly dead of all emotion ‘And you? What’s your role in this?’ Mike gave him a huge grin before answering ‘My role is to stay with you no matter what and let them know what’s going on’ he threw his hand out to indicate the others sitting in the room ‘I will cover for you with the company and give them the feedback they want to hear which is basically you’ve been to business related appointments’ Hyungwon looked at him closely for a few seconds and then nodded. He stood abruptly making the others jump and turned to Dani ‘Please send me an email of the appointments you’ve agreed so I know when I will be able to get away, I will need that, I will see you in 2 weeks’ he turned to Shownu and bowed slightly ‘Thank you’ he said in a softer voice and then turned away from them all and walked towards the door. Mike scrambled up following him giving Hoseok a worried look, he was now holding the hand gripping his thigh as if his life depended on it. Mike caught up to Hyungwon at the door who suddenly turned back to face the people in the room, he swept over their faces and for the first time they saw some of their sadness reflected in his eyes. He took a deep breath stabilizing himself and looked straight at Hoseok ‘Goodbye’ he whispered and walked out of the room.

Dani wondered if Hyungwon heard the eruption that took place when he left the room and Mike had quietly closed the door.

Hoseok exploded off the sofa sending the coffee table flying, cups and jugs hitting the other sofa and Woosung. Shownu shouted a warning and managed to grab his friend into a bear hug from behind stopping his planned chase after Hyungwon. Hoseok was shouting - at Shownu, at Dani, who had grabbed his face between her hands trying to calm him, and at the departed Hyungwon. Dani was crying and Shownu was making indistinguishable noises as he fought to contain Hoseok. Woosung was sitting paralysed on the other sofa watching three of the gentlest people he had ever known physically wrestling each other in front of him, crying and shouting. Shownu suddenly shouted ‘HOSEOK STOP’ and fell onto the sofa taking the other two with him, Woosung heard the sofa creak at the impact of the three bodies. They landed in a heap Hoseok was laying on Shownu, both were breathing heavily, as he had felt himself falling Hoseok had grabbed Dani’s wrists as her hands were curved around his face, she was now sprawled over his chest sobbing. He curled his arms around her holding her tight to his chest repeating in a soft voice ‘I’m sorry, Dani I’m sorry’ Shownu’s arm came around Hoseok’s bulk and gently stroked Dani’s hair as Hoseok continued to say he was sorry. Woosung got up quietly and left the office fully aware he needed to give the three friends some time alone and anyway he was covered in tea, coffee, milk and sugar, yuk!

The bizarre cuddle on the sofa continued until Dani was no longer crying and the office was silent. Hoseok kept her tightly embraced in his arms and although he was no longer stroking her hair Shownu’s hand remained curved around her head. ‘You can let me up now’ she said quietly, and the men removed their arms and helped her stand up beside them. They stood looking at each other, no embarrassment, just their care of each other evident. ‘Thank you’ Hoseok said and they both nodded ‘Did I hurt either one of you?’ he asked looking from one to another ‘I’m fine’ Dani answered stroking the side of his face, they both turned to Shownu and he looked at Hoseok stating ‘You really are an arse you know’. Hoseok grinned widely at him ‘Yes I know but you’re a bigger one!’ Shownu dipped his head to hide his smile, he looked up at them both. ‘You two ok if I nip out to the library for a couple of hours?’ Dani smiled at him and nodded ‘Go check out a book you mean?’ she asked laughing. Shownu smiled back and looked at the mess in the office ‘You ok clearing all this up?’ Dani continued smiling as she started pushing him towards the door ‘Go, go check on your friend’ Shownu turned back to Hoseok ‘You want me to take you both to the airport later?’ Hoseok looked at Dani and she said ‘Eun-ho is taking me so why don’t you go with Shownu? I will meet you at the usual coffee shop in departures’ Hoseok nodded and Shownu shouted ‘Text me the time!’ as he rushed out of the office.


	10. Welcome To Our World

What Hoseok didn’t expect was for Shownu to arrive with a beautifully delicate man with him in the car. He raised his eyebrow at him as he lifted his suitcase into the car and Shownu glared at him in return. Hoseok muttered under his breath ‘Chill Papa Bear, I promise to behave!’ Shownu opened the door to the back seat and Hoseok hid his smile at being relegated to the status of passenger. ‘listen you idiot’ Shownu muttered ‘I need his help to sort out your messy love life the least you could do is meet him, be nice, and then he will help us, clear?’ Hoseok nodded seriously as he ducked down into the back seat taking his walk-on bag with him. He sat in the back double checking all his documents, he knew he had packed his phone and iPad and the chargers, so he was all set to go.

‘You ok if we get coffee when we get to Incheon?’ Shownu asked as he pulled out into the traffic, Hoseok hummed a yes at him as he messaged Dani to confirm he was on his way to the airport ‘So you’re both staying over in London and then onto Venice the next day’ Shownu asked ‘Are you staying at the hotel we used before at London Fashion Week, near that museum’ Hoseok smiled remembering a particularly wild week they had spent in London ‘Yes, Dani is happy so she can get a quick trip to Harrods’ Shownu laughed and turned to smile at the passenger who was watching then both open mouthed. ‘You went to London Fashion week?’ he squeaked and Hoseok snorted in the back seat ‘He was on the runway showing my first international collection’ he said ‘when we weren’t running around the capital’ Shownu growled ‘Shut up Hoseok’ from the front seat as his passenger was looking at him open mouthed. Kihyun spun round in the seat and looked at Hoseok closely ‘wow he’s really beautiful’ thought Hoseok starting to see colours and materials wrapping around him into creations. ‘Shownu hasn’t introduced us properly I’m Yoo Kihyun, I know you’re Hoseok but who are you really?’ Hoseok was rummaging in his bag looking for his small sketch book and pencils, he had to draw these designs quick before they were lost. ‘Hoseok!’ Shownu barked at him ‘Kihyun is talking to you!’ ‘Oh sorry’ Hoseok said ‘but I have these designs, he needs pastels and a high necked collar with a…..shit where’s my pencils?’ ‘Hoseok!’ Shownu barked again, ‘explain to him, you’re acting like a lunatic!’ Hoseok stopped and looked at Kihyun smiling ‘Sorry, I get like this, I’m worse when Dani isn’t around, my name is Lee Hoseok and my brand name is Wonho, I’m the lead owner/designer’ Hoseok looked at Kihyun staring at him open mouthed while Shownu laughed out loud. ‘You’re Wonho?’ he whispered ‘The Wonho?’ Hoseok smiled vaguely rummaging in his bag again ‘Yes, that’s me. Can I ask, would you have any problem with me designing you some outfits, I have some ideas already?’ Kihyun was staring at his blankly. ‘For god’s sake Hoseok, too much, he’s not used to you, not everyone can handle your level of weirdness’ Shownu moaned at him. Hoseok had found his pencils and was drawing furiously on the pad he had at last located, he was making little humming noises and had a deep frown on his forehead. Shownu turned to Kihyun ‘Sorry but we’ve lost him now until we get to the airport, at the very least, if you’ve really inspired him Dani will have a peaceful flight to London, don’t be worried if he asks you sudden random questions like your inside leg measurement’ ‘He’s Wonho’ Kihyun whispered ‘THE Wonho, only the best designer in the country. He’s your best friend, Wonho? Wonho is your best friend? The man that I would give my right arm to own something more than a t-shirt, that’s your best friend?’ Shownu nodded ‘Yes unfortunately that idiot in the back is my best friend’ Kihyun peeked another look at Hoseok who was now mumbling to himself and furiously splashing colours over one of his drawings, he suddenly looked up and stared at him intently, nodded to himself and went back to colouring. ‘Oh my god, its Wonho in the car with us’ Kihyun said aloud. ‘Kihyun’ Shownu said quietly and Kihyun turned to him ‘He’s Hoseok, the best friend I’ve ever had, Wonho is what he does’ Shownu knew he was frowning but he needed him to understand, Kihyun’s delicate hand came up and covered his hand holding the wheel ‘Yes I understand but you could have mentioned who he was, only my favourite designer ever!’

There was silence for a few minutes and then Kihyun turned back to Shownu and was staring at him as if he was an alien, Shownu shot a quick look at him and frowned, ‘what’s wrong?’ he asked. ‘You modelled for him? Kihyun whispered ‘He said you modelled his collection. You modelled for Wonho? In London?’ Shownu rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and gave a short laugh not sure how he was going to respond to his next statement ‘Actually I was his first muse’ he snatched a quick look at Kihyun who was sitting staring at him with his mouth hanging open ‘his….first…..muse’ he mumbled back at him. ‘Yes something about my triangular shoulders and my ability to make him ramen day or night, we starved together for a few years and then when he took off we travelled to most of the European fashion shows but I never really enjoyed it and then there was an incident with a photographer and I officially retired’ Shownu was smiling widely recounting his story. ‘I’m a minor partner in the company but in name only, Hoseok insisted so that if anything happened to him I would be protected’ he shot another quick glance at Kihyun who was still staring at him open mouthed ‘Hey’ Shownu asked gently ‘you ok?’ Kihyun gave a little shake to his head and gave a surprised smile at him ‘Exactly who are you?’ he asked as his smile widened. Shownu laughed out loud and gestured with his head towards the back seat ‘I’m that idiots best friend’.

Shownu found a decent parking space and had to practically pull Hoseok out of the car, he was pulling his pad and pencils out of his carry-on bag as fast as Shownu was packing them. Shownu loved him dearly but found him impossible to deal with when he was like this and couldn’t wait to meet up with Dani. He felt his patience coming to an end and shouted at him ‘Hoseok I swear to god if you don’t pay attention, I’m leaving you here’ Kihyun hid his laugh behind his hand, he had adjusted to this bizarre loving relationship, they were as close as him and Minhyuk and he understood that kind of connection. He walked up to Hoseok ‘Will you show me your designs while we are having coffee’ he asked shyly. Hoseok smiled at him brightly, he appeared to be back with them now, ‘yes of course and you need to write down all your measurements for me, I will get samples done of these and we can look at them when I get back home if you like’ Kihyun smiled brightly at him and answered ‘Shownu said you have a friend who needs some support and company while you are away, is he a designer as well?’ Hoseok’s smile died and he looked past him to Shownu who gave him a short shake of his head indicating he hadn’t told him who it was they would be babysitting. ‘let’s go get a coffee and we can talk’ Shownu said gently and Kihyun felt the change in mood and nodded his agreement.

Shownu got them settled and went to get the drinks, he told Hoseok to text Dani, so she knew where they were as he wandered up to the counter. Kihyun looked at Hoseok shyly and wasn’t sure where to start the conversation however Hoseok looked up, smiled at him gently and started speaking. ‘I suppose I need to explain really. My friend is in an idol group, he’s not just my friend but I did something really stupid and we aren’t speaking. He needs support to get away and we have arranged that between us, and we hoped you would help meet him for coffee or some quiet time at your library’ Kihyun looked at him carefully ‘when you say stupid do you mean you were unfaithful?’ Hoseok shook his head ‘No, I didn’t explain something properly and I hurt him, it was never my intention, I took his silence to mean he understood something but he didn’t’ Kihyun nodded in understanding and asked ‘who is your friend?’ Shownu arrived with their drinks as Hoseok said ‘Its Chae Hyungwon’ ‘For god’s sake Hoseok’ Shownu said as he watched Kihyun’s mouth drop open for the second time during their trip ‘You can’t keep dropping this stuff on him, you have to ease people into it’ He put his coffee down in front of him ‘Just drink this and shut up, ok?’ Hoseok just shrugged his shoulders and pulled his notebook out, he turned it to an empty page and pushed it with a pencil across the table towards Kihyun asking ‘measurements please’.

Any further conversation was stopped by Dani and Eun-ho’s arrival. This time Shownu did the introductions trying to glide over the occupation of Dani’s husband but Kihyun picked it up on the name immediately asking if he was the author and editor. Eun-ho smiled widely and said yes and within minutes they were discussing new authors and popular choices at Kihyun’s library. Dani gave a thumbs up at Shownu who smiled his agreement. They didn’t realise Hoseok was watching them until they turned back to the table. He smiled at them both ‘Do you think this will work until I get back?’ he asked. ‘To be honest I wasn’t sure’ Shownu answered ‘but when your man agreed I felt hopeful and now everyone has met I think we can do this. Hoseok are you going to try and talk to him while we are away?’ ‘And say what?’ Hoseok answered. ‘Maybe explain?’ Shownu suggested quietly reaching out to touch his shoulder.


	11. Reaching Out Across The World

Hyungwon stood at the dorm lounge window, it was dark and everyone else was asleep, but he felt a dull ache in his chest, and he couldn’t settle. He wondered where he was now. He couldn’t be in England yet and he didn’t know any details about their trip apart from Dani speaking to her husband, when she thought he was asleep, about going to Harrods when on the stopover in London. He couldn’t message her and ask as she was with him. He felt a pang of guilt about his last meeting with her, Dani’s face when he had stepped away from her, he had hurt her, and all she had done was care for him. He was deliberately not allowing himself to think about Hoseok’s face when he had said goodbye and the grip, he had on his friends hand. He hoped his friend could forgive him and wondered if he could message Shownu and ask him about them and if they had arrived safely but quickly discarded that idea. He gave himself a mental shake, he could cope for two weeks, he told himself, he could survive, he would make himself, Dani would come back, Hoseok’s friends would look after him for this time, he could survive this comeback and maybe he could talk with Hoseok in a month. A whole month. The dull ache flared to become pain as he thought his name and he raised his hand to rub at his chest absentmindedly. He felt the storm of feelings start to well up and press at his insides, screaming in his head, he could feel the nausea start and tried to detach from it. His demons had been so quiet in the last four weeks being with Hoseok and his strange family, but they were back in force to torment him. ‘Message him’ a small kind voice in his head said, ‘just send him a message, no harm can be done’. Hyungwon didn’t want to fight the kind voice and pulled out his phone unlocking it. He went to his files and opened up his saved pictures of Hoseok, most were taken in his office when he was working and was unaware that he was being watched. He looked at his favourite picture of him curled up asleep on his sofa cuddling a big bunny plush. Hyungwon smiled a gentle smile, he couldn’t help the response and gave in to the pull and went to the messaging screen, he clicked onto his contact number and stared at it for ages. He wandered over to the sofa and sighed as he sat down, still staring at the screen, berating himself to make a decision. Then suddenly he felt a calmness come over him as he looked at the screen and looked at his name. He typed ‘Hello’ but couldn’t bring himself to send it and curled around the phone onto the sofa pulling a blanket down over him, he laid staring at the screen as his eyes drooped closed and the phone dropped from his hand, as he grabbed for it his thumb brushed over the screen and the message was sent. Hyungwon put the phone on the floor under the sofa unaware that the message had gone and drifted off to sleep.  
Hoseok spent a good half of the flight drawing furiously, Dani ran interference with the cabin staff ensuring he ate and drank and didn’t offend any of them. She watched fascinated as the beautiful designs appeared before her, they were strong and delicate at the same time, he was mixing bold colours with pastel adornments and they were striking and different. ‘Are these for Shownu’s Kihyun?’ she asked and he nodded taking one of the many coloured pencils stuck in his hair to create a fiery dragon down the front panel of a jacket, he suddenly jolted making Dani jump and mumbled ‘books, the dragon has books’ and started to draw antique books in the dragons claws. Dani thought of Shownu’s delicate boyfriends reactions to the designs and smiled, she wondered if he realised that Hoseok would expect him to model them. He eventually crashed after eating his dinner, this included stealing her ice cream when she wasn’t looking, and Dani tidied the pencils and papers scattered around their seats. Their flight wasn’t full, they were lucky to have the 3 seats to themselves and he had spread out over them. She tucked a blanket around him and allowed herself a few minutes to think about Hyungwon, she trusted Shownu implicitly, and she knew he would look after him until she got back and then they would do it together until Hoseok returned and then their little family would be alright.

Hoseok looked out of his window down onto Knightsbridge, he had slept well after getting from Heathrow to the hotel like a walking zombie, Dani wasn’t in a better state. They had quickly made the decision and changed their flights to Venice for tomorrow morning, so they had a full day in London. Dani had met him for breakfast and then rushed off to go to Harrods as it was walkable from the hotel. His phone had been dead last night so Dani told him she had let everyone know they had arrived safely. He had left his phone on charge while he had slept and had gone down for food with her. He loved London and stood watching the people going in and out of the museum across the road, he wondered if he had time to go and visit the fashion exhibition before Dani got back for lunch. He heard his phone ping somewhere in the room and suddenly realised he hadn’t messaged Shownu today and went to find its location. He had 3 messages waiting for him. He opened Shownu’s first and laughed at its contents - he got home ok, thanks for blowing the mind of my boyfriend and bring me back the sweets from Harrods- he then opened Woosung’s and smiled at the long tirade about one of the models behaviour at the photoshoot. He opened the last message without really looking and nearly dropped the phone when he saw the ‘Hello’. He felt his heart thumping in his chest as he stared at the one word and sat down heavily at the desk unit. He tried to work out the time difference, it was midday in London so its 9pm at home, he could try and message him now, or ring him but what if he was sleeping or working? He sat and stared at the screen, drew a big breath in and wrote ‘Hello’ as a message back and sent it immediately determined not to overthink it.   
Hyungwon came out of the shower and picked up his phone on the way back to his room, he could hear his members shouting in the lounge, so he quickly went into his room locking the door. He opened his phone and saw the name on his front screen, he sat down quickly on the bed taking some deep breaths, he opened his phone to the message screen and saw his sent message from yesterday. He waged a war with himself about his stupidity and then decided the only person he could phone was Dani, he needed to talk to someone! ‘Hello?’ her gentle voice answered almost immediately. ‘Hi Dani’ Hyungwon said quietly not sure of her reaction ‘Hyungwon?’ her voice cried ‘Is that really you?’ Hyungwon couldn’t help but smile in response to the happiness in her voice ‘Yes it’s me and Dani I’m really sorry’ Dani giggled ‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry about I’m just really happy you rang. Guess where I am? I’m sitting in a little café across from Harrods so I can talk to you for as long as you want’ Hyungwon smiled at the sound of her happy voice. ‘Dani I sent a message to Hoseok last night, it was an accident, I wanted to send it but I was scared but I think I sent it when I fell asleep and dropped my phone’ Dani waited for him to continue ‘The thing is he sent me a message back and now I don’t know what to do’ Dani took a deep breath before answering ‘Do you want to talk to him?’ she asked hoping that he would say yes. Hyungwon sighed ‘I miss him, and I want to be with him but I know I can’t for a month and that makes me angry because he gave me no opportunity to try and prepare myself for him suddenly not being here with me. Part of me knows I’m being unreasonable, but I’ve been free of so much crap the last month and was getting to a stage where I could cope’ he sighed again, and Dani weighed up her response carefully. ‘Hyungwon he never ever had any intention of hurting you, it’s your decision if you answer his message but consider if you’ll be happy with no contact for the month he’s away’ she heard him ‘hmmm’ in her ear in response and felt a small spark of hope that this was fixable. ‘I’m meeting him for lunch, do you want me to say anything to him?’ she asked and held her breath waiting for his answer. ‘No!…. yes!….. Tell him I said hello and to send me a picture of London. I need to go to bed now as I have a full schedule tomorrow, but I’d like to wake up to a photo’ he said shyly. ‘Yes of course’ she said feeling incredibly happy that he wanted contact ‘I will send you some as well and I will ring you when I get to Venice. Are you seeing Shownu tomorrow as we arranged?’ Hyungwon laughed ‘Yes he’s taking me to a place called The Puppy Palace to meet his boyfriends friend’ Dani giggled ‘It’s amazing there and you will like Minhyuk, he’s quite an experience’ Hyungwon giggled back ‘Another one, you’ve all been quite an experience!’ His voice turned serious as he spoke again ‘Thank you Dani, for looking after me and for not being angry with me’ ‘Hyungwon whatever you decide to do I will be here for you all I ask is you are honest with Hoseok’ she answered and she heard him make a noise in agreement. They said their goodbyes and Dani sat for a while watching the people and traffic passing by her before starting the 5-minute walk back to the hotel. 

Dani dropped her shopping off in her room and went to knock on Hoseok’s door, he threw it open almost immediately shouting ‘where have you been I’m starving!’ she laughed and grabbed his hand ‘come on then, where are we going to eat?’ he turned away from her grabbing his jacket ‘Hang on, hang on I just need to grab my wallet and phone!’ she was pulled into the room with him while he grabbed what he needed including his room key card and they both exited together Dani shifted her hand so she could intertwine her fingers with his as they made their way towards the lift.  
They exited the lift as soon as the doors opened with a plan, to walk back towards Harrods and stop at any small restaurant or café that caught their eye. They window shopped on the way standing for ages looking in the window of a cake shop with incredible designs, Hoseok took photos of many of the little cakes saying he felt they would be useful at a later date. Dani didn’t question this bizarre statement but dragged him away when the employees inside where obviously talking about him and pointing him out. They crossed one of the side roads and saw a small pizza restaurant tucked down the turning and decided that was perfect for lunch. Inside was quiet and they chose the table in the window so they could people watch. Ordering was simple with Dani’s fluent English and they sat sipping their drinks as Hoseok flicked through his cake pictures. Dani watched him grinning, ‘Hoseok I have something I need to discuss with you’ she started the conversation and gained no response from him ‘Hoseok!’ she tried again, ‘hmmmm’ he responded without looking up. She raised her phone and took a picture of him smiling at his cake pictures. He was dressed in a fluffy pink jumper with a black leather bikers jacket on top, his neck was adorned by a black velvet choker with a small adornment in the centre front. Dani had recognised the miniature version of the choker embellishment he had designed for Hyungwon. He rarely wore makeup in London and his skin looked clear and healthy. Dani stopped staring at him and tried to get his attention again ‘Is it okay if I send this picture of you to Hyungwon as I promised him pictures from London when we spoke earlier?’ she waited for a reaction ‘yep that’s okay’ he mumbled at her not looking up from the phone. She was just about to slap him when their food arrived, and they helped the waiter arrange the plates of food and their drinks. She watched Hoseok suddenly catching up with what she had said when his head shot up and he made startled eye contact with her. She raised both eyebrows at him and laughed. He watched the man arranging their table impatiently and then asked her ‘True?’ She nodded and waited for the man to move away before saying to Hoseok ‘I spoke to him earlier. He said to say hello and for you to send him a picture from London’ she watched the different emotions flicker across his face and then the single tear trailed down his cheek, she reached around the food and drinks and grabbed his hand squeezing it gently ‘He rang me after you sent the message to him, he didn’t know what to do, he misses you but he’s also angry about what happened but he hasn’t shut the door to you Hoseok’. A huge smile broke free and he squeezed her hand back ‘then send him the picture and I will send some later’ he released her hand and grabbed a huge slice of pizza stuffing in in his mouth. She pulled her hand back and fiddled with her phone for a second, ‘Its sent!’.

Hoseok sat in the square. The sun was warm, and he had an hour before he had to be back at the meeting at the hotel so he sat quietly, thinking. The flight from London had been short and uneventful, as had been their transfer by boat taxi to the main island.  
The cost of the Hot Chocolate had made him choke, he was sure he had converted it incorrectly until he had used a conversion chart on his phone, and he realised the incredible price was correct. But the atmosphere was relaxed and the quartet playing by the hotel entrance made the experience even more charming. He allowed himself to mind wander as he imagined Hyungwon here with him, he would love Carnival he thought, maybe next year I could design him a costume, they could bring Shownu, Kihyun, Dani and Eun-ho with them and rent an apartment by the Grand Canal and join the celebrations. He laughed at the thought of Shownu’s quiet librarian partying with them. He picked up his phone to take a selfie and saw a message from Shownu ‘Your boyfriend met my boyfriend and his best friend. They were VERY loud. All went well. You owe me, they just talk rubbish together!’ Attached was a picture of them all laughing. Under that message was one from Hyungwon, more reserved but made him just as happy ‘Saw Shownu and his boyfriend today and lots of puppies! Feeling good. Mike says hello’ Hoseok smiled brightly much to the surprise of the passing waiter who returned his smile. Oops thought Hoseok chuckling, he finished his hot chocolate, using his finger to scoop all the whipped cream from the rim of the cup and got up to make his way back to the hotel and his meeting.


	12. Is it a relationship and does that include your family?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You want to know what my Woosung looks like? Watch ILYSB – The Rose on YT

Hyungwon waited for the director to dismiss them. The music video was finished, and they would be free for the rest of the day. He had an appointment with Woosung today and Mike was collecting them at Midday. He was hoping he would be able to talk to Dani again as it would be 7pm for her if he rang as soon as Mike picked him up. And you’re hoping that Hoseok’s with her aren’t you said his kind inner voice. He couldn’t deny it or shake it off. They had spent the last 7 days sending polite messages and the occasional picture to each other since Shownu had sent his picture from the Puppy Palace and he wanted more now. He knew Hoseok was incredibly busy and Dani was keeping him up to date on everything they were doing in Venice. But he wanted to stop feeling incomplete all the time. He had loved the time with Shownu and his friends and he understood now why he was so important to Hoseok, he was the solid dependable papa bear who could suddenly make the most blistering savage comment about a design or fashion reducing it to crumpled ashes without even cracking the smallest grin. And yet he looked at his tiny boyfriend with so much love it had made Hyungwon’s heart ache at times. Shownu always looked at him kindly, always gentle, always careful to project any intention to make physical contact and furiously guarded him against anybody else touching him. His band members were terrified of him, slinking away if he ever collected or dropped him off at the dorm, he was kind and gentle, but he wasn’t Hoseok and he needed his Hoseok.   
He heard a gentle cough behind him and turned around to see Mike standing there with a big grin on his face ‘Ready?’ he asked and Hyungwon nodded. ‘Excellent, let’s go. You want to sit in the front with me?’ he questioned him as they started walking out, Hyungwon took the time to bow politely as he passed each staff member on the journey out to the car. A voice suddenly shouted ‘yah!’ and grabbed his upper arm spinning him around violently ‘Where are you disappearing off to again’ he looked into the angry face of his band member Jun, his fingers bit into the flesh of his upper arm. Mike stepped forward immediately up close against his side as he saw Hyungwon freeze ‘Please remove your hand from Mr Chae’s arm’ he spoke quietly but making it obvious this wasn’t open for discussion. Jun looked at Mike and sneered at him ‘What are you, his mother?’ and he watched him pinching the skin of Hyungwon’s arm further. ‘No’ said Mike ‘I am the Associate that will report your behaviour to the PD-Nim if you do not comply with my request’ Mike stood silent watching the boy fight his internal battle and then removed his grip. He gave Hyungwon a disgusted look ‘I have no idea why such a famous designer would want to make clothes for you when you are so weird, he can’t like you, he must be being paid a lot of money to put up with you’. Mike kept his anger under control as he stepped between the two band members ‘We will be going now’ he said on the edge of being menacing and watched Jun take a step back away from him. Mike then turned his back on him causing his bulk of human flesh to be a buffer for Hyungwon. He smiled gently at him ‘Shall we go?’ he asked and Hyungwon spun from him and started the journey towards the car. When Hyungwon had taken approximately 10 steps in front of him Mike turned back to Jun, he spoke at him quietly with no emotion evident in his voice ‘You have met his friends haven’t you?, a piece of advice for you and the other members, don’t cross them’ He gave him a sharks smile and turned walking quickly to catch up with Hyungwon before he reached the car. As they reached the black people carrier Mike asked, ‘Front or back Boss?’ Hyungwon giggled and said ‘The back, I’m going to try and ring Dani on the way to meet Woosung’ Mike raised a questioning eyebrow at him ‘Only Dani?’ he said and he nodded yes as he dived into the back of the car.  
The phone call never happened in the car, initially it just rang until it cut off and then there was a constant engaged tone. Hyungwon racked his brains trying to remember the itinerary that Dani had told him during their last phone call, but it was all scrambled with his own schedule, it must be close to the day of the show now he realised, it was almost 2 weeks since the argument. He knew Mike was watching him in the rear-view mirror and he hid his increasing anxiety at not being able to hear her calming voice. The real truth was he wanted to ring Hoseok but didn’t know if he would be able to talk to him and did he want to speak to Hyungwon?  
Woosung counted to 10 in his head and tried again to get Hyungwon to relax, he looked like a waxwork, beautifully dressed in a Wonho design but locked up tighter than a high-tech vault. He looked across at Mike who shrugged his shoulders at him and shook his head gently mouthing ‘shit day’ at him. Woosung waited for Hyungwon to join him mentally as his eyes were staring off into space again. ‘Hyungwon’ he asked, ‘you ok?’ he received no response and he walked towards him until he was inches away. ’Hey! you ok?’ Hyungwon blinked rapidly and focused onto his face ‘Sorry Woosung, it’s been a bit of a day’ Woosung nodded and stepped back to look at the outfit that swirled around his tall slender body in dark splashes of colour. The beautiful pastel colours evident on all of the designs for Hyungwon encircled his cuffs and spiralled around one hip contrasting wildly with the darker colours, he looked stunning and dangerous and yet beautiful with his soft dark hair falling into delicate bangs but his eyes showed nothing. Woosung felt frustrated, he was the perfect embodiment of these designs, Hoseok had excelled himself so why the hell couldn’t he reach him and get the images they deserved? ‘Do you not like the outfit?’ he asked and Hyungwon looked shocked ‘No, I love it, it’s so different and edgy, I can’t believe he designed this for me, that this is how he sees me’ Woosung snorted ‘ There’s no stopping him when he gets inspired to this level, the last time I saw this was with Shownu’ Hyungwon smiled at the thought of Hoseok designing for Shownu, it just seemed so unlikely. ‘Can I ask you something?’ Woosung asked ‘You can tell me to mind my own business’ the younger man looked at him closely and then nodded his agreement watching carefully, he held his breath waiting for the question. ‘Do you care about him?’ there was a silence as the question sat in the room between the three men. Hyungwon took a deep breath and for the first time since he had arrived Woosung could see emotions swirling around in his eyes, he wished he could take photos now, he could probably win awards with them his eyes were so hypnotic. He pushed the thought down as totally inappropriate and anyway Hoseok would never forgive him! One word whispered out from his lips ‘yes’. The word hung in the room and then just as suddenly the moment was lost as Woosung said ‘excellent!’ making Hyungwon jump, ‘can I suggest we go do anything apart from this, get changed and we will get Mike to drop us off, as I’m officially your company today what would you like to do?’ Hyungwon couldn’t help but smile at Woosung’s approach to him as he never seemed uncomfortable and said ‘puppies, I want to go back to the puppies’ Woosung looked at Mike who nodded his agreement ‘I will drop you two off at The Puppy Palace Café, its where Shownu took you before isn’t it? and then ring me when you need collecting’ ‘Fabulous!’ Woosung laughed and started packing away his camera equipment ‘Go, go, go get changed and we will hopefully go get a decent cup of coffee and see the puppies’. Hyungwon’s face lit up and he disappeared back into the changing room.

Woosung was sitting sipping his first decent coffee of the day, nobody made coffee as good as Da-ni’s and he missed her. He hated it when they went away in the show season, their family was all separated out. Hyungwon appeared happier here and had suddenly jumped up smiling as Kihyun, Shownu’s cute boyfriend, had entered the coffee shop. Kihyun came straight up to Hyungwon frowning ‘I thought you were working today?’ he questioned judgingly, not meaning to sound so harsh as he watched Hyungwon’s head drooped and the smile die on his face, he shuffled uncomfortably under Kihyun’s gaze . ‘I needed a break, so I had Woosung bring me here instead, I need-ed coffee and puppies!’ he stated, his voice tense. ‘Ahh, that’s understandable’ Kihyun nodded, regretting his harsh tone earlier.

Minhyuk, Kihyun’s best friend and owner of the amazing café, reappeared with new drinks and placed another coffee in front of Woosung ‘You look like you need spoiling’ he winked and Woosung felt the blush travel up his cheek bones, he looked across at Hyungwon who smirked at him. Woosung felt the heat rising further in his cheeks as he looked at Minhyuk, who had thrown himself into the seat opposite, and he grinned widely back at him, he felt strangely flustered and spluttered, ‘I’m going to go sit with the puppies’ before disappearing. The three other men glanced at each other cautiously like naughty children before erupting into laughter, ‘Min, look what you’ve done! You’ve scared off the straight guy!’ Kihyun giggled, Minhyuk groaned, staring at him with accusing eyes. ‘I did nothing!’ he said feeling slightly regretful that Woosung had left them. ‘It’s your gay aura’ Hyungwon muttered dryly, causing another eruption of laughter. The conversation was nice and Hyungwon enjoyed talking with the two men without there being tense undercurrents, they continued chattering away, the conversation flowed naturally between the three of them, as if they had always been together. He envied the two men their closeness and reflected again on these incredible individuals Hoseok had wrapped around him to protect and support him in his absence despite the awful way they had parted. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Minhyuk suddenly asked ‘What’s it like?’ Hyungwon raised a questioning eyebrow ‘da-ting as an idol must be hard’ he said casually. Hyungwon thought about it for a moment, his hands touching his neck briefly, wishing he had his choker ‘I don’t really know… I’ve never tried’ ignoring the pain this statement caused, ‘I’ve got a no dating clause in my contract anyway’ and pretended to shrug indifferently. Hyungwon zoned out for a while thinking of Hoseok again, as the two men bickered about relationships, he heard a comment about spending a night away from home and sleeping with a boyfriend which bought him back into the conversation as Kihyun was saying ‘It’s really restricting our relationship, I can’t even spend a night away from home!’ he whined, slumping back in his seat sulking. Hyungwon thought of the night he had spent sleeping on Hoseok’s chest wrapped in his arms, his words slipped out before he could stop them ‘Oh… do you count like… sleeping ON someone as dating and spending the night?’  
‘WHAT?’ the other two shrieked in unison, leaning further into the table so they could talk in whispers. Hyungwon felt he should explain further ‘I’ve stayed at Hoseok’s studio at night and one time I slept on him’ he mumbled, and was assailed with memories of that night, it was painful, and he had to close his eyes. He wanted to feel that safe again but what did that night mean? His eyes flew open as Minhyuk stated ‘That’s couple shit’ Hyungwon felt his world do a sudden shift at the honesty of his comment and a shy painful smile spread across of his face as he spoke his thought aloud ‘I might have had a boyfriend then’ he looked sadly at his hands clenched in his lap no longer following their conversation as he concentrated on not letting the tears that were prickling behind his eyelids from spilling out over his sharp cheekbones. The conversation continued on around him ‘I can’t believe this; you have a contractual obligation not to date and you’ve still got further than me’ Kihyun tried to re-engage Hyungwon but it was hopeless, he was closeted into his own painful reality. Woosung had stopped playing with the puppies, although he couldn’t hear their conversation he watched the change in Hyungwon’s appearance and made a decision to intervene. He re-appeared, smiling, completely ignoring the obvious atmosphere ‘We do need to finish work Hyungwon and it’s getting late’ he stated and Hyungwon nodded, saying his goodbyes quietly. ‘He’s got Music Core tomorrow so I can’t keep him late’ Woosung explained quickly, ‘Good luck tomorrow’ Kihyun said, gazing at Hyungwon warmly, he gave him a weak smile in return, bowing politely and then he rushed out the door behind Woosung.   
Mike was waiting for them outside of Hoseok’s building, he went to open the front passenger door but Hyungwon shook his head and he made to the back of the people carrier. He turned to Woosung and bowed politely ‘Thank you for this afternoon’ he said quietly. Woosung frowned ‘Did they say something to upset you?’ he asked and Hyungwon shook his head, ‘No. they just made me re-evaluate something and now I need to do something about it’ Woosung looked at him care-fully making a decision to cross a line to try and help him. He spoke one word in response ‘Hose-ok?’ and watched his face carefully. Hyungwon gave a big sigh and a small ‘yes’ was forced out. Woosung made a decision based on what he had seen that day in the office and the obvious pain Hyungwon was experiencing now ‘The day you visited the office, before they went to Italy, his whole world fell apart, he never meant to hurt you, he would never hurt the people he loves, but all he cared about was making sure we all looked after and protected you because he wouldn’t be here to do it himself. Whatever he did to you, and I don’t know what that was, is it so bad that you can’t forgive him?’ a silence settled between them and Woosung waited, Hyungwon suddenly took a deep breath and straightened himself up to stand elegant and arrogant in front of him, Woosung wished he had his damn camera with him now because he looked incredible, his voice was deep but assured as he said ‘No, it isn’t and I’m going to sort this out’ he gave him a wide smile of thanks and climbed into the back of the car waving at him before the tinted door closed.


	13. From Zero

By the time Hyungwon had got back to the dorm, had showered and changed, and then sat through a silent evening meal full of dark looks and glares from his band mates he was exhausted and knew it wasn’t a good time to try and ring Hoseok. He had felt a curling tornado of excitement and anxiety since he had got into the people carrier earlier with Mike, decisions had been made! The conviction that he could fix the situation had grown with every hour. All the signs were there that Hoseok would want to talk to him and find a way forward, why had he arranged all these marvellously strange people to be around him keeping him safe if he didn’t care about him? But it had to be the right time and he couldn’t ring when exhausted. Tomorrow was a free day so he could ring when he woke up. He ignored the noise coming from the main lounge and curled up on his bed thinking of Hoseok, the sleep crept over him, feeling calm and peaceful as he had a plan.   
Hyungwon woke up with a jolt, something he never did, usually he gently unrolled from his snuggly burrito sleep to sneer wickedly at the world. But today, today he felt anticipation and excitement. He grabbed his phone and looked at the time and was horrified to see it was almost 11.30am. He had slept for nearly 12 hours with no distressing vivid dreams. He rushed to the bathroom to do what needed to be done and grabbed his phone on his return.  
He had put his phone on charge overnight and it was now showing at 100 %, he unplugged it and laid on the bed with it hugged to his chest. ‘ok’ he thought to himself ‘time to grow up Hyungwon and take back some control of your life and choices’. He picked up the phone and pressed the con-tact for the one voice he wanted to hear above all others. He listened to the international dial tone and waited, his conviction started to lessen as the dialling continued and then disconnected. He waited a moment and then considered the distance that it may not have connected properly and pressed the contact name again.  
Almost immediately a groggy voice answered growling down the phone, no words were identifiable as Hyungwon’s breath caught in his throat and he waited. ‘Hmmmmm?’ the voice growled again ‘What’s …wrong?’ this question threw Hyungwon for a second. There was nothing technically wrong he just wanted to speak to him, a small voice in the back of his head spoke gently to him as if he was a 3 year old ‘He’s in Italy idiot, its 8 hours behind’ ‘Oh god’ Hyungwon moaned into the phone. There was a silence and then Hoseok spoke ‘Who is this? You’re phoning me at 4am to be a pervert? Is that you Shownu? I’m going to bloody kill you!’ Hyungwon wanted to scream, how can this be going wrong so quickly, Hoseok was obviously waking up ‘Either speak you moron or piss off and let me sleep’. Hyungwon felt the giggle slip out at the snarky comment and decided to put him out of his misery.  
‘Hello’ he breathed softly; the silence was deafening after a sharp intake of breath from 5,000 miles away. He waited patiently, needing to hear his voice and then he will know, the seconds seemed like hours until a soft voice whispered ‘Wonnie?’ A sob broke free from Hyungwon’s lips as he heard his special name and a single tear spilled down over his cheek as he blinked any others away. The soft voice continued ‘Is that you baby?’ Hyungwon tried to keep a grip on the sobs that wanted to break free from his body as he dragged a breath into his body and sobbed out a ‘yes’. The gentle voice he wanted to hear so badly continued ‘Don’t cry baby, it’s ok. Are you alright? has something happened?’ Hyungwon drew a deep breath in and settled himself as he answered ‘I’m fine now, I just wanted to talk to you, I’m sorry I didn’t think about the time for you’ He heard a chuckle and could picture Hoseok’s face crinkling up as he laughed with those beautiful lines radiating out from the side of his eyes. He could hear rustling and clicking as Hoseok moved about ‘Hang on I’m just sitting up and I’ve put the light on. Where are you?’ he asked in a much clearer voice. ‘In my room at the Dorm’ Hyungwon answered pushing himself back to lean against the headboard ‘I know you must be in your hotel room, at least I hope so!’ Hoseok chuckled again and answered ‘Yes I’m in my room, Dani and I got back from the run through at about 1am, everything is good to go for tomorrow, well today I mean’ he laughed out loud and Hyungwon felt a warm glow spread in his chest at hearing the familiar noise. He needed to be brave he told himself, he needed to get answers, he got a grip of the anxiety as he thought about what he needed to do next ‘Hoseok, can I ask you a question?’ He felt the fear slice through him as soon as the question left his lips and he had to remind himself to take a breath in as he waited for his response. ‘Of course, baby’ he replied sounding curious ‘did you wake me up to ask this question?’ Hyungwon’s ‘yes’ came out as a breath ‘So it’s important I’m guessing’ Hoseok continued ‘Is there a risk the answer could upset you?’ he asked concern apparent in his voice. Hyungwon spoke quietly ‘There’s a risk it could but I’m hopeful it won’t, I think that your answer will make something clear for me’ There was a silence at the end of his statement and he waited for Hoseok to answer him. He heard him take a deep breath ‘Ok, then ask me’ he said softly. Hyungwon took a deep breath and asked the most important question that had come out of his visit to the café that day ‘Hoseok, when we were together, were we boyfriends? is that what you meant when you said those things to me and you made me the choker?’ he waited for Hoseok to speak, a pain was radiating in his chest and he could feel the beginning of the inner screaming that had overwhelmed him two weeks ago and led to them being so far apart physically and emotionally. The silence was overwhelming and seemed endless, Hyungwon wanted to collapse, oh god, oh god, he’d been wrong, there wasn’t the relationship he thought there was. The stupid conversation in the café had been wrong, a small sob slipped out as he tried to think of a quick way to get off the phone and away from Hoseok without collapsing all over again. Then suddenly a soft husky voice swirled around him wrapping him into a safe cocoon ‘Wonnie……., you are so much more to me than a boyfriend, I know I screwed up about this trip but I would never deliberately hurt you because it destroys me to see you cry and shut down. You are everything, you’re my everything. It killed me to send you back to the company every evening, but I know I have to wait to get you out of there. I don’t muck about with my emotions, once I know something I’m honest and loyal to it. If you want to call it boyfriends then we will call it that, but I know what you mean to me’ Hyungwon let out the breath he was holding and felt the pain turn to a sunlight glow in his chest pushing away the fears as Hoseok said the words he needed to hear. Hoseok continued ‘As soon as I’m home from London we can spend more time together and I can prove I am excellent boyfriend material, if you will have me?’ Hyungwon giggled his agreement feeling light-headed at his words ‘I’d like that. Can we still spend time with your friends as they are funny and kind to me?’ Hoseok snorted his response ‘Kind? Which one is kind?’ Hyungwon smiled as he answered ‘Shownu. He’s been great and he scared my band mates every time he collected me but I also really like his boyfriend’ Hoseok laughed and then his gentle husky voice asked ‘You been alright Wonnie?’ and Hyungwon closed his eyes at the intimate tone before answering honestly ‘I wasn’t but now I think I will be’. ‘That’s good’ Hoseok answered as he stifled a yawn ‘You better be the first person I see when I get back home!’ and Hyungwon giggled his answer that he would try to be. Hoseok tried to smother another yawn and Hyungwon realised he needed to let him go ‘You need to sleep and I need to let you go’ he whispered softly as he slipped down onto the bed so he was lying on his side clutching his phone. ‘Hmmm’ Hoseok said doing the same before answering ‘shall I ring you later this morning as it will be the evening for you? I can ring you before the shows last rehearsal starts?’ ‘Hyungwon smiled as he said ‘I’d love that. Goodnight Hoseok, I will talk to you later’ He heard Hoseok whisper ‘Goodnight my baby’ as he ended the call. Hyungwon held the phone tightly and stared at the ceiling as the smile spread over his face and his whole body felt at peace.  
5,000 miles away a half-naked man threw himself off his hotel bed snatching his cardkey as he erupted from his room into the brightly lit corridor. He fell along the wall to the next door along and hammered on it for entry. Within seconds a dishevelled woman opened the door saying, ‘I swear to god Hoseok if this is because you can’t find your pad or pencils I will kill you!’ The furious woman stood glaring at him as he wrapped her in his arms and held her tight ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked hugging him back tightly all anger gone. ‘He rang me, he rang me Dani’ he spoke with radiant happiness and she stroked the side of his face tenderly. ‘Thank god’ she said and then pushed him back out of her room ‘now go back to bed’ she said shutting the door in his face.


	14. Plans Are Only Plans When You Stick To Them.

Hoseok sat at the table in the dining room with a huge cup of black coffee and a mountain of assorted pastries. He looked up at Dani’s arrival with a grin, she looked at the plate and then at him ‘Really?’ she asked as she sat down. ‘They’re delicious’ he responded feeling no guilt as he stuffed one whole into his mouth. ‘Hoseok! really?’ she cried before giving into the giggle bubbling up inside her. He looked so different this morning, vividly alive and slightly dangerous. A young waiter came to Dani’s side and placed a new pot of coffee by her and she nodded her thanks. She watched Hoseok smile at him and him blush before moving away ‘Hoseok, behave!’ she scolded as she poured her first drink of the day and sipped it with real appreciation. ‘Why does it never taste like this at home?’ she asked and Hoseok hummed his agreement taking another swig from his cup.

‘So, do you want to talk about last night?’ Dani asked after her second cup of coffee and a bowl of fruit deciding to avoid the pastries despite their pretty appearance. Hoseok was using his finger to pick up every single flake of pastry left on his plate. He looked up eyes sparkling ‘We talked, I’m ringing him again before the run-through this morning. I think we are ok now’ Dani smiled back feeling a huge sense of relief making a mental note to ring Shownu and Mike when he disappeared off to ring Hyungwon to get their take on things. She felt a sense of wellbeing that their family had done good. ‘Dani?’ he said quietly, and she heard the change in the tone of his voice. She looked up onto his serious gaze ‘Would you be really mad and how much chaos would it cause if we fly to Heathrow tonight after the show, set up the London show, hand it over to Peter and make for home in 2 days?’ Dani knew she was staring at him with an incredulous look on her face. Peter Shaw had been Hoseok’s agent in London since his first show there, he adored the ground Hoseok walked on. Last year he had designed Peters wife wedding dress which had been the talk of the British press, but he was going to kill him if he went ahead with this ridiculous plan. 

Dani gave herself a mental shake ‘Are you serious?’ she asked watching a whole jumble of emotions crossing his face. He lent over the table and grabbed her hand gently ‘Dani I need to get home to him, I can’t be away another two weeks, seriously, can we do this?’ he squeezed gently to reinforce his question. She stared at him as her mind spun with the possibilities and questions, she took a deep breath and answered him. ‘This is madness, set up the show and then not be there for it, it could be professional suicide Hoseok’ he kept looking at her without saying a word, he knew how Dani worked ‘They may even pull the plug on the show if you don’t stay to do the publicity and the runway show’ Hoseok stayed very still gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb as she worked it through ‘But we could change the focus of the show and make it radically different with no designer present’ he held his breath waiting. She stared at him closely and then nodded ‘Yes we could do it, it will be bloody hard and Peter may never speak to us again but yes please, can we go home’ Hoseok got up from his seat and walked around the table keeping hold of her hand, he pulled her up and she frowned at him. She was suddenly enveloped in a huge hug as he spoke quietly into her ear ‘Thank you Dani, I love you’ she squeezed him back and responded ‘I love you too you idiot. Let’s get this sorted and go home’. He broke away from her smiling ‘Just in case we can’t do this don’t tell anyone, we aren’t going to know for sure until we get to London’. Hoseok let go of her hand and they sat down again, Dani gestured to the waiter who bought a new jug of coffee while smiling shyly at Hoseok, he smiled vaguely at him in thanks and the waiter walked away trying to hide his disappointment. Dani poured out the two cups and pulled out a pad and pen from her handbag. ‘Ok boss lets plan, we have an hour until we leave for the rehearsal, what do we need to sort out?’ Hoseok nodded his head and within seconds their heads were bent over the table as they talked, and Dani made furious notes.

Hyungwon had said goodbye to Mike hours ago, the photo shoot with Woosung had gone well and he kept asking him what had changed in 24 hours as he looked like someone had turned a light on inside him. Only Mike knew what had happened before he had collected him for the appointment, and he smiled gently at Hyungwon whenever Woosung asked the question. His phone was sitting by his bedside charging and he knew he was pacing, waiting for him to ring. He had refused supper with the members, he was so sick of their comments whenever he returned from time with Hoseok’s friends, he had his stash of snacks in his room and would creep out later to make ramen. Tomorrow was a full day with a back to back schedule, but the only important thing was the phone call he was waiting for. He did another lap and the phone started ringing, he flew across the room grabbing the phone and threw himself onto the bed ‘Hello!’ he said breathlessly and waited for the voice he needed to hear. ‘Hi baby’ the voice hit like warm sunshine and caught in his chest ‘Are you ok to talk to me?’ he continued. Hyungwon couldn’t speak, the warmth was radiating within him. He managed to push out a noise that sounded like yes and Hoseok asked ‘Can’t you talk to me?’ Hyungwon closed his eyes revelling in the warmth and peace his voice brought him, he dragged in a deep breath to speak and said ‘I’ve missed you’ Hoseok gave a deep chuckle in response. His voice sounded serious as he asked, ‘Has everyone looked after you?’ Hyungwon smiled and found the ability to speak ‘They have been wonderful. Shownu has looked after me and I really like his boyfriend Kihyun, and Kihyun’s friend is nice as well, the one with all the puppies. I’ve seen Woosung and the pictures are pretty much finished. I’m not a child you know Hoseok, I started living in dorms when I was 13’ There was a moments silence before Hoseok answered ‘I never once thought you were a child, well maybe on the first day we met, but I did think you were alone and I didn’t want that to continue while I was away’. Hyungwon hummed his agreement before saying softly ‘thank you, especially after how we parted’ after a couple of seconds Hoseok answered ‘Wonnie, sometimes the best way forward is to just go forward. Accept mistakes were made and lessons learnt but keep hold of the person who is important and move together’ there was a pause before he continued ‘do you agree?’ Hyungwon didn’t need to think about his answer ‘Yes, yes I do’.

Hyungwon suddenly heard a Korean woman’s voice speaking to Hoseok ‘Is Dani there?’ he asked unable to keep the excitement out of his voice, Hoseok chuckled and said, ‘hang on a minute, Dani someone wants to talk to you!’ he could hear the phone being handed over and then Dani’s clear voice saying hello. Hyungwon smile widened at her voice ‘Dani!’ he shrieked, and she laughed out loud. ‘Hi sweetie, are you ok?’ she asked looking at Hoseok with a huge grin, he could hear Hyungwon’s excited voice as they spoke together and made promises to meet as soon as she got home, she sadly said goodbye when she saw their water taxi driver arrive in the hotel lobby and handed the phone back to Hoseok. ‘I have to go now; it’s going to get mad for us and going to be difficult until I get to London. I will ring you when we get to the hotel. Go and see the others whenever you can, let Shownu keep you safe, ok baby?’ Dani was dragging him out of the lobby towards the water’s edge as he was trying to say his goodbyes. Hyungwon listened to her nagging at him to hurry up and laughed his goodbyes until the phone went dead.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind, Dani managed to get the last flights to London after the show and moved their hotel booking. The water taxi was booked to collect them from near St Mark’s Square when the show finished and take them straight over to the mainland for the flight, they had rushed back to the hotel and packed up before getting back in time for the final sound check in the square. Dani spent every spare minute, when she wasn’t translating for Hoseok, on the phone to London making arrangements with Peter for the changes in the show. Not everything went as they planned but they were still holding onto the hope that they would be in London for 24 hours and could then fly home. 

With 45 minutes to show time they found themselves behind the generator lorry with a few minutes alone. Hoseok looked stunning in one of his dark blue creations, encrusted with visions of the night sky around the end of the sleeves and jacket lapels. Under the jacket was a cream mandarin collared shirt open to his abdomen. As Dani got closer she saw the small gothic rings with blue roses and tiny raindrops embellishing his collar. He held out his hand to her as she approached and she interlinked her fingers with his, he pulled her towards him until her forehead rested on the edge of his shoulder. ‘You ok Dani?’ he asked and she nodded against him ‘You sure?’ she nodded again but sighed and he used his other hand to stroke the top of her head ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you, every time bloody Jackson comes to visit and says how badly we treat you and offers you more money I get scared that it will be on one of the days I have annoyed you and you will accept his offer and leave us.’ Dani chuckled and looked at him as she stepped back ‘Hoseok you’re my family, there’s nothing Jackson could offer to entice me away, I know if I asked you for more money you’d pay me but sometimes you’re exhausting’ she smiled and stroked his cheek taking any bite out of her words. He smiled back at her and nodded ‘I know, but I wouldn’t survive without you’ Dani snorted saying ‘Someone would throttle you! Come on let’s get this over with and get our arses to London!’ Hoseok burst out laughing and nodded his agreement leading her out from behind the lorry.


	15. Time to All Be Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Credit to incorrect hyungwonho @incorrect2WON for Hoseok’s and Hyungwon’s reunion dialogue.
> 
> You can read the start of Woosung and Minhyuk’s story as a stand-alone ‘Don’t question it, just feel it’

Two weary travellers stood in the arrivals hall, their luggage was collected, and they looked blankly at each other ‘Ok’ said Dani ‘We really didn’t think this through did we!’ and Hose-ok gave her a half grin in response. ‘I could try ringing Shownu?’ he suggested, and she nod-ded too exhausted to even bother with language. He searched through his pockets until he found his phone and quickly called his best friend hoping he wasn’t tangled up with work. The phone rang for ages and he was just about to give up when the calm voice answered the phone ‘Hi Hoseok, you ok?’ and he smiled in response ‘Hi, is Hyungwon with you?’ he answered turning to Dani and giving her a tight smile as Shownu answered sarcastically ‘I’ve missed you too darling, it’s an idol day, I thought you had a secretary for a reason’ Hoseok snorted his answer ‘We’re at Incheon, any chance you could swing by and collect us, yes us, it’s me and Dani, yes we came home, for god’s sake Shownu can you come or not?’ Dani was watching him with a frown creasing her forehead, she had a pounding headache and was sure she had been awake for 36 hours now. Hoseok was slowly shaking his head at her indicating that he wouldn’t be coming to get them, he was frowning and asking abrupt questions in response to whatever Shownu was saying, she could see the anger in Hoseok’s face and his voice was getting more and more clipped as the two men were talking, it was obvious he wasn’t angry with Shownu but was angry at what was being discussed. She took her phone out of her flight bag and tried to ring Eun-ho, he didn’t answer his mobile phone so she rang Gyeoroo Publishing, the excited receptionist told her he was in a founders meeting and she wouldn’t be able to speak to him, but promised to pass on the message she had called. By the time she got off the phone her head was pounding and Hoseok had finished talking to Shownu. They stood looking at each and then burst out laughing ‘Boy we screwed this up didn’t we’ Hoseok laughed again and she nodded her agreement ‘So what now Boss?’ she asked, ‘a cab back into the city?’ he shook his head ‘No, we need to get Hyungwon as well’ ‘Hoseok!’ she said suddenly grabbing his arm ‘Call Mike! He may be with Hyungwon any-way. I’m not even sure what day it is anymore so I don’t know if he’s with him, but he may come get us’ A huge smile spread over his face as he looked up the number. Mike answered almost immediately, and she listened to him make arrangements to pick them up as soon as he could get to the airport. Hoseok finished the call and hugged her saying ‘let’s go get coffee while we wait for him’ and she wearily nodded her agreement. 

Mike was everything they needed, he organised them and their luggage into the dark people carrier handing out bottles of water and providing pain killers for Dani. She rested her head back and closed her eyes letting the exhaustion wash over her. She had no idea what Hoseok was running on now. She drifted off to sleep listening to the animated conversation of the two men in the front of the car. 

When she next opened their eyes, she was at Shownu’s house. She frowned as the door was opened and the face she loved most in the world looked at her ‘Welcome home’ he said as she stepped out into his arms. ‘How did you know?’ and he smiled at her ‘I rang Shownu as soon as I got the message you had rung. I thought you were still in London. He said everyone was making for here so here I am’ She hugged him tightly and said ‘so we can’t go home yet, is that ok? Something awful has happened to Shownu’s boyfriend Kihyun, he’s lost his job and his home’ He nodded his understanding ‘I know everyone is coming here for dinner but we need to go get food and drink’ she grabbed her flight bag and walked over to their car as Woosung arrived in his car. He walked over to her and hugged her tightly ‘Welcome home, we need you as bloody awful things have happened’ Dani returned his hug and explained she would be back soon with food and he could bring her up to date. He was reluctant to let her go as everything seemed under control now she was back. He smiled at Eun-ho as he joined her at the car and wondered how he felt having so many men dependant on his wife as he held the door open for Dani to get into the passenger seat. She raised a hand in goodbye to Woosung, Hoseok and Mike as they walked off towards the flat. 

Hoseok let them into the flat, he had had keys to Shownu’s home since they had starved together and threw himself down onto his sofa that creaked loudly at the punishment. There was a highly charged atmosphere as Mike continued with the conversation they had started outside. ‘It’s an idol day, he had schedule early this morning but will be expected to stay within the dorm until tomorrow. He won’t be allowed out and they’ve started taking their mobile phones away at ‘rest periods’. Like I said the dorm is on the second floor and there are 2 security doors before you can get to the living areas’ Woosung frowned ‘what’s the entrance hall like?’ he asked as if his everyday life entailed breaking into idols residences. Mike frowned ‘There’s a security desk with two guards at all times’ Hoseok closed his eyes and rubbed his temples as he thought out a plan ‘What if we go in with cameras and pretend we have permission to take photos? We’ve had enough appointments they may not question it?’ Both men nodded and Woosung asked, ‘How do we get to the second floor?’ Mike pulled his ID pass from his pocket ‘This will get you into the lift and through the doors’ Both men looked at him and Hoseok eventually spoke ‘You sure you’re happy to take this risk with us, you can just drop us off if you wish?’ Mike gave him a tight grin and answered ‘No, I’m happy to help you’ Hoseok pulled himself up off the sofa ‘OK let’s swing by the office to get the camera kit and then let’s go get our idol!’ As the three men made for the door as Shownu came crashing in with his boyfriend behind him carrying a screaming box containing a very unhappy cat. Hoseok raised an eyebrow at Shownu and then pulled him in for a hug. Shownu pulled back and asked, ‘What’s this?’ he gestured towards the three men leaving. Hoseok gave him a tight smile and tried to manoeuvre around him ‘We are going to get my boyfriend’ he answered. Shownu looked at him incredulously ‘What the hell Hoseok, he’s at the dorms, you can’t just go and snatch him’ Mike and Woosung moved over into the kitchen to give them some personal space as Mike whispered to him ‘Who will win?’ Woosung raised an eye-brow ‘Depends on who is the most pissed off, they are furiously loyal to each other but have very little patience for each other’s wild plans. They are scarier if you attack one of them or their close family’ Mike nodded ‘Yes, I’ve seen that in action’ Woosung shook his head ‘Believe me I’ve seen worse!’

Shownu and Hoseok stood face to face in silence, Shownu sighed and spoke ‘You know I can’t go with you don’t you, they are my company as well. Has this got anything about what went on before?’ Hoseok flinched at his suggestion but answered honestly ‘my past with them has nothing to do with this, it’s all about Hyungwon and getting him away from them and with us’ Shownu nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder ‘As long as you’re sure’, he let his hand drop down feeling equally powerless and frustrated ‘Just don’t get arrested please’ and Hoseok grinned at him ‘You know my solicitors details if I do and you have complete power of attorney as my guardian’ Shownu groaned loudly ‘For god’s sake Hoseok since when?’ Hoseok smiled at him gently ‘Always’ he answered and started to turn towards the kitchen. Shownu grabbed his arm, ‘Remember you are stronger and scarier looking than you think Hoseok’ and he nodded in agreement before calling the other men from the kitchen. Shownu looked at the three men and sighed his resignation as they made for the door. He said ‘Don’t break anything, don’t hurt anyone, don’t get arrested…. and don’t scare Hyungwon’ and all three nodded. Mike was the last to leave and Shownu grabbed his arm and spoke quietly to him ‘Don’t let him lose his temper as he will never forgive himself’, Mike held his gaze and said ‘I won’t’ before following the others out of the tiny flat. 

The three men exited the car with their plan ready, Woosung started taking pictures of Hose-ok as soon as he opened the car door. They breezed into the reception area watched by two startled security men, Woosung was taking pictures of Hoseok sprawled over them and their desk, Mike overshot them to get the lift door open and ready for them to enter. The guards seemed stunned by their behaviour and even waved goodbye when Hoseok sent them cute finger hearts and waves as the lift doors closed. The three men collapsed into laughter as the lift travelled to the second floor. It opened to a small hallway with a key padded door at the end, Hoseok watched the security camera follow their progress along the corridor. The second area had four doors, all key padded. ‘Which one?’ Hoseok asked Mike and he pointed to the one farthest away on the right. He overtook the others and keyed the code into the door. Hoseok noticed a small flashing red light by the side of the door and guessed they were running out of time before they were found and removed. The whole set up had changed from his time as an idol trainee which he was grateful for as it minimised any painful memories about his fall from grace and termination of contract. He shook away those memories and focussed on finding Hyungwon. They were now in a small hallway with two front doors ‘On the left’ mike said, ‘but this one they will have to open’. Hoseok knocked on the door and the three men stood in an arc as the door was opened by a surprised member who stuttered ‘Hi Mike……We have no schedule today……What’s he doing here?’ He asked pointing at Hoseok. Mike smiled, he looked like a shark grinning, cold and deadly, and gently moved past him into the flat indicating the other two to follow. They walked into the lounge where the other members were all sitting around apart from Hyungwon. They all stood and looked sur-prised at the three men standing in the middle of their lounge. Hoseok spoke first ‘Where Hyungwon?’ the men looked at him blankly, he repeated his question slightly louder ‘Where’s Hyungwon?’ The six young men stood silent and Hoseok turned to Mike ‘Do you know where he would be, what room if he is here?’ Mike shook his head answering no and glared at the young men.

A standoff was taking place in the lounge with three men staring out six young men when a door opened down the hallway and a tall thin dark-haired young man wandered into the room. He was wearing loose fitting pyjamas and his hair was tousled, he had obviously just woken up. He dragged a hand over his eyes and asked, ‘what’s all the noise, I was trying to sle……..’ the words died in his mouth when he saw the three men standing in the room. Hoseok gave him a huge smiled and said ‘hey, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?’ Hyungwon pulled himself together and kept his face neutral as he responded ‘I rose from hell’ with one eyebrow raised sardonically. Hoseok took one step towards him still smiling widely ‘So I guess that’s why you’re so hot?’ Hyungwon started to answer ‘I…..’ and then he was flying across the room jumping into Hoseok’s arms, wrapping his legs around his waist. ‘Whow………’ Hoseok cried staggering back under the force of the impact but held him tight. His rush towards Hoseok triggered movement from everyone else in the room, Mike and Woosung moved to be either side of the couple as protection when the members rushed towards Hyungwon attempting to pull him away from Hoseok’s body. Hyungwon held on tight, his arms hugging his body against Hoseok’s chest, he tucked his face into the crook of his neck breathing in the smell of him. Mike suddenly stepped between the two groups of people and shouted ‘Stop!’ and the boys stepped away stunned at Mike shouting, he turned to Hoseok ‘Have your say and make it quick as we need to get out of here!’. Hose-ok put Hyungwon down with difficulty and he immediately curled his hands around his powerful upper arms with a sigh. Hoseok cupped his face ‘Hi baby’ he said kissing him quick-ly ‘the family is meeting up as Kihyun needs us, I’m home for good, will you come with us?’ Hyungwon looked at his face closely, he felt the huge weight shift off his chest at the man standing in front of him ‘You came home’ he whispered. Hoseok held his eye contact and answered realising the importance of his next words ‘I came home for you’. Hyungwon slowly smiled and nodded his agreement, he trailed his hands down his powerful arms and linked his long fingers into Hoseok hand, he took a deep breath and said ‘We had better go then’ he turned to face Mike and Woosung ‘We need to leave now!’ and they sprang into action moving towards the door.   
The members moved at the same time shouting and attempting to block the front door of the flat, this coincided with the two security guards arriving at the other side. The four men found themselves sandwiched between two angry security guards and six screaming members. Hyungwon held on tightly to Hoseok’s hand, leant into him and said ‘You sure about this, it’s going to get messy, they won’t just let me walk away’ Hoseok squeezed his hand reassuringly and smiled tightly as he said ‘I’m sure, I’ve done this before’. Hyungwon looked surprised and Hoseok said ‘Long story, now let’s go’ Hoseok walked towards the two guards and said quietly ‘Please let us pass Mr Chae wants to leave with us’. 

The four men stood on the pavement looking at each other ‘Well, shit’ said Woosung and Hoseok snorted in agreement. ‘What the hell!’ said Mike and three pairs of eyes turned to look at him ‘You ok?’ Hoseok asked ‘I mean what I said to that arsehole’ he reached out for Hyungwon’s hand again and their fingers interlinked as he spoke to Mike ‘Come and work for me with Woosung, you’re family now, if you think you can put up with us?’ Mike frowned ‘You sure Hoseok, you don’t owe me anything. I knew the risk when I helped you, it would only end with them sacking me. Just didn’t expect that manager to scream so much!’ The group of men burst out laughing at Mikes words as they recalled the screaming hysterics of the suited manager who had arrived to resolve the impasse in the doorway of the flat. His hysterics had actually helped them in making their escape, but his last screaming fit was to sack Mike with immediate effect. As the laughing subsided they realised they were now stranded with no car ‘Cab! We need a cab to get back to Shownu’s’ Hoseok shouted and Hyungwon looked down at his pyjama’s ‘And clothes please’ he asked and Hoseok laughed loudly ‘Just wear it with pride and class’ he said hugging him tightly. Hyungwon leaned into the hug feeling slightly lightheaded. Hoseok whispered into his ear ‘Dani’s at Shownu’s as well’ and Hyungwon knew his happiness was close to being complete. ‘Let’s go then’ he an-swered and watched Woosung step out into the road to hail a cab.


	16. Welcome To Our Family – Dysfunctional But Always There.

They arranged themselves around Shownu’s tiny lounge. He had never felt it was small before but with this large group of people fitting themselves in wherever there was a space made it seem tiny. Hoseok had sat himself down into the corner of the comfy saggy sofa without letting go of Hyungwon who immediately scrambled around on his lap finding space for his legs and then burrowed his face into the crook of his neck inhaling deeply the essence of his man. He was still resplendent in his pyjamas but Hoseok had promised he could rummage through the sample room tomorrow and take whatever he needed; his eyes had lit up with excitement as the designer had agreed to make any alterations straight away. They had said very little to each other since leaving the dorm room apart from some practicalities like clothing but appeared unable to move away from the other person and their hands had remained linked throughout the journey to Shownu’s flat. Hoseok looked around the room at the people present, his family, it had grown suddenly with new faces present but like a huge puzzle they all bizarrely fitted together. He looked over at Dani who was sitting smiling happily within a hug on her husband’s lap. ‘Right decision?’ he mouthed at her and she smiled brightly and nodded her agreement. He looked towards the other end of the sofa and smiled at Shownu with Kihyun curled up on his lap, the size difference more apparent with his petite man wrapped in a bear hug, Hoseok explored the gently expression on his friends face as her softly rubbed his cheek against his lovers hair. The relationship surprised him but gave him pleasure at his friends obvious happiness and Shownu was the perfect person if you needed rescuing because he had saved him on more than a few occasions. He knew Kihyun had lost everything but Hoseok felt he was gaining more by joining their dysfunctional family. 

Dani was asking Mike about the raid that had liberated Hyungwon and the 3 men entered into a rowdy explanation of the escape, there were shrieks of laughter as they embellished the ‘fight’ with Hyungwon’s band members but the room fell silent as Mike told them about the Manager that had appeared at the end and had sacked him on the spot. They all slowly turned to look at Hoseok who looked shocked ‘What?’ he shouted ‘I’ve already told him he has a job here with us. He can work with Woosung’ he glared at the photographer who put his hands up in defence while answering him ‘Hey, no arguments from me! I already told you he has a good eye and there’s enough work for 2 of us’ Hoseok turned to Dani ‘Can we afford to pay him?’ she tutted at him shaking her head ‘You know we damn well can, probably more than he was getting from those scrooges, why do you always ask me that? You’re the boss!’ he smiled kindly at her ‘because Dani I need to know you agree’ he said laughing gently. She stuck her tongue out at him like a child and he returned the behaviour causing everyone to laugh at them both. ‘So, I’m hired as what?’ Mike asked and Woosung looked up from his seat on the floor to answer, ‘You are officially my assistant’ and Mike smiled widely. ‘Come in tomorrow morning and we will do all the paperwork’ Dani said, and Mike nodded. People were eating the easy finger food Dani had bought while Shownu got up from the sofa leaving Kihyun curled in a snuggly ball like a cute hamster to collect the pizza delivery. Hoseok shouted that he was first and then noticed that Kihyun’s friend was now half lying on his photographer and Woosung was gently stroking his hair. He couldn’t help looking at him in a questioning manner, what was happening? Woosung looked back at him unsure what to answer but after glancing down at Minhyuk he knew this felt right. As he glanced back at Hoseok, saw his gentle smile as he mouthed at him ‘don’t question it, just feel it’ and nodded his head towards the man on his lap. They nodded at each other in understanding as Hoseok grabbed hold of Hyungwon and pulled him in tighter to his body enveloping him in his arms. The man hummed in question at the closer contact. ‘You ok?’ Hoseok asked speaking softly by the side of his head and Hyungwon nodded unwilling to move away from Hoseok’s warmth and smell, it radiated a warm golden peace within him by being close to this man, his man. He was still trying to fully accept he had returned from Europe two weeks early and released him from the dorm, he thought about the consequences of what they had done today but felt little concern. As soon as his relationship with Hoseok became known they would terminate his contract as he had no intention of returning to ‘reflect’ upon his behaviour. His only concern was he had nowhere to live and no income. He had written and produced many of the groups songs but wasn’t sure if that would provide him with an income. 

He decided to stop thinking about practicalities as he was sure the incredible group of people in this room would have some answers, he focused back onto Hoseok who was talking quietly with Kihyun. They were both lucky to have met these people who were stronger than any family he had ever met. His arms were wrapped around Hoseok’s body resting on his back and he moved his long fingers to pull the back of Hoseok’s shirt out from the belt of his trousers splaying his hands against his cool bare skin under the material, he felt him hitch his breath at the contact and the muscles twitched as he allowed his fingernails to travel over the skin as he traced their shape. He felt the vibrations of the growl against the side of his face that was still burrowed into the crease of the designers neck. ‘Behave!’ Hoseok muttered at him and Hyungwon licked the skin in front of him in response, Hoseok hissed and shifted in his seat as Hyungwon discretely ground down against him. ‘Oh my god please baby’ Hoseok whispered onto the top of his head and Hyungwon looked up at him his eyes a swirling storm that he was struggling to control, Hoseok immediately felt himself falling into the storm, the heated drag in his lower abdomen flared and his heart rate increased, he knew Hyungwon would be able to feel it hammering in his neck. He had missed him so much and felt at peace being here with him now cuddled up on his lap, knowing he was safe but he didn’t want to make out in front of an audience and needed to bring this to a stop however reluctant he was. ‘Please stop’ he whispered ‘I don’t have a lot of self-control with you anyway and I’ve missed you’ Hyungwon took a deep breath and he watched him fight the storm in his eyes to become calm as he cupped his cheek in his hand gently rubbing the skin with his cold fingers. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve missed you too and I just want to be as close as I can’ Hoseok turned his face into Hyungwon’s hand and kissed his palm gently without breaking the eye contact trying to explain to him everything he meant to him without speaking out loud. Hyungwon sat up although he remained within Hoseok’s arms and took his arms from around his body to hold the muscles of his upper arms as he spoke ‘ I do have a big problem mind you’ and Hoseok frowned at him ‘what’s wrong?’ he asked deliberately flexing his upper arms and watching Hyungwon’s eyes flare in response as he bit his lower lip ‘I have no home and no job!’ ‘That makes two of us’ came the dry response from the man snuggled on Shownu’s lap nibbling on a slice of pizza. 

Hoseok looked at Shownu and saw the question in his eyes. He could comfortably afford to take on Hyungwon, Mike and Kihyun, he knew that, but would the man accept the offer. It appeared to Hoseok Kihyun was hurting and may refuse if he felt it was charity. He thought back on how he had ended up with Dani and Woosung, neither had the qualifications or experience for their jobs but they were driven to prove themselves and Hoseok had been rejected so many times himself when Starship had terminated his contract that he was able to see their desperation. He couldn’t imagine his life now without them. Hoseok looked across at Dani, she was watching the non-spoken interaction between the two men intently and then nodded her agreement as Shownu raised a questioning eyebrow as she raised three fingers at him. ‘Seriously?’ Hoseok mouthed at her and she nodded again. He turned back to Shownu and raised his fist which his closest friend mirrored, and they made contact as Hoseok laughed out loud ‘You’re mad!’ Shownu responded as he joined him in the laughter. 

The pizza was finished and Hoseok struggled to keep his eyes open, he had been in London this morning, he thought, or was that yesterday morning? His eyes felt they were full of grit and he needed to get his contacts out. His feeling of sleepiness wasn’t helped by the warmth from Hyungwon’s body as he flatly refused to sit anywhere else and remained wrapped around him. Hoseok looked across at Dani who had her eyes closed and was laying across Eun-ho’s lap. Hoseok knew he needed to make for home, but he needed to get Hyungwon sorted first. ‘Dani’ he called softly and she opened he eyes and smiled at him ‘Yes Mr Lee?’ he laughed at her prissy response, Hyungwon opened his eyes at the rumbling in Hoseok’s chest as he laughed and followed his look towards Dani. ‘Can Hyungwon stay with you until we can get him sorted out?’ he asked but the young man was already interrupting ‘I want to go with you!’ and tightened his grip on Hoseok’s chest ‘Baby’ he spoke softly to him ‘You need to get things organised before you make decisions about us. I don’t want you being with me because you don’t have anywhere else to go, we didn’t help you today to make all your decisions for you’ Hoseok spoke the practical truth but in reality he wanted to scoop him up in his arms and take him home but he had had so many choices and freedoms taken from him by being an idol that Hoseok wanted him to join him freely and not because he had no other options. Hyungwon sat calmly looking him in the eye searching for something, the other man sat quietly letting him look for whatever it was he needed. He saw the flare as he found what he desired and he moved forward to rest his forehead against his ‘OK’ he said quietly ‘I will go for tonight but we need to talk again tomorrow’ Hoseok’s eyes glittered as he nodded his agreement ‘Of course Wonnie’ he mouthed and kissed him gently on the lips.


	17. And Now It Begins

It was just before 10am the next morning when the dysfunctional family all sat in Hoseok’s office drinking coffee or tea with doughnuts. Before he had left Shownu’s flat the evening before he had made it very clear everyone was due in his office by this time. Minhyuk and Kihyun had looked away as he had told all those present, and had looked at him in shocked surprise when he had indicated that it included both men. The room was crowded and noisy but felt warm and happy. Hoseok looked at all the faces and then down at the pages of notes he had. It had taken hours for his brain to shut down after getting back to his flat. He had messaged Hyungwon until he had settled at Dani’s and then started putting his ideas for the company down on paper ready for this morning. He had contacted the bank as soon as he had arrived and confirmed the money was there for all the plans, even he had been surprised at the reserves available and the Bank Manager had made it very clear there was money available to borrow if he required it. The biggest hurdle would be the people he didn’t know well especially Kihyun, but he would rely on Shownu to lead when it came to getting him to join them. Mike and Woosung were the last two to join them and Hoseok watched his photographer search the room for Minhyuk smiling broadly when he saw him tucked up the end of one of the sofa’s with Shownu and Kihyun. The two men sat next to Dani and Hyungwon on the big sofa on the right. Hoseok grabbed his coffee and went to sit behind his desk causing some raised eyebrows from the others at his formality. He had just sat down when the final person slipped into the room with a quick nod towards Hoseok and sat on the left-hand sofa next to Shownu. Dani frowned at the arrival of her husband, but he gave her a reassuring smile before looking at Hoseok.

The silence was deafening as eight pairs of eyes looked at Hoseok and he smiled at them be-fore speaking ‘Stop looking so worried’ he said as he looked at his notes ‘This is to set out what’s happening next and what I’m going to ask all of you to do as part of this company’ Kihyun and Minhyuk looked surprised as Hoseok chuckled and said ‘I’ll get to you two in a minute!’ He took a deep breath ‘I’ve checked with the bank and we have the finances for all these plans and roles so there are no concerns about being paid’ Dani snorted at this comment and he frowned at her jokingly ‘The biggest issue at this time is the Seoul Show in 3 weeks. While I was away the outfits for Hyungwon were completed and Woosung has done the pre-show publicity shots. Kihyun’s outfits will be finished before the end of the week and he will need to go through the same process’ Kihyun’s head shot up at Hoseok’s words and mouthed ‘Outfits’ at Hyungwon who nodded a ‘yes, outfits!’ back to him. Hoseok took a gulp of his coffee before continuing ‘We need a Promotions Manager and with his background it seems logical to ask Kihyun to take this post, as he will be modelling his outfits at the show so he will want it to look good’ The man Hoseok was discussing was sitting with his mouth hanging open in shock as Hoseok continued, ‘We have agreed that Mike will work with Woosung and I will leave it to you to rearrange the studio and order any equipment you need through Dani’ the two men smiled and nodded. 

Hoseok then turned to Eun-ho and smiled ‘Eun-ho has agreed to write some articles about the company and the build up to the show, he will be around a lot and can you please give him any information he needs’ he watched Dani raise an eyebrow at her husband as he smiled at her reassuringly ‘and this is where you come in Minhyuk’ he looked up surprised as his name was used and Hoseok continued ‘From today we are the official sponsors of the Puppy Palace, Eun-ho will do an article and Woosung some pictures and set up some decent sponsorship deals’ Hoseok stopped to take a deep breath and smiled at everyone present ‘And finally there are two more things I need to share, Hyungwon will be joining the company as our Lead Model and Company Face’ he turned and smiled at the man in question before turning to face Shownu ‘ From tomorrow Shownu and Dani become part owners of the company, they each own 25% of the company, if anything happens to me, you will all be safe’ he barely finished his sentence before the room erupted and Shownu was standing in front of Hoseok’s desk thumping his fist down upon the surface ‘No Hoseok! We’ve discussed this before, absolutely not!’ He stood up and walked around to the front and stood in front of Shownu ‘Listen this company wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t supported me and given me every penny you got out of Starship when we were kicked out, it’s time for me to repay that debt my friend’ The two friends stood staring at each other neither willing to give an inch ‘Please Nunu’ Hoseok said quietly and Shownu raised his eyebrow before replying ‘Really? You’re really going to use the Nunu card?’ and Hoseok smiled brightly at him while nodding. Shownu sighed and said ‘Ok, I agree, but silent partner Hoseok, you hear me! I’m not getting involved in any day to day running of the company’ Hoseok nodded immediately and rested his hand on his shoulder squeezing it gently ‘Ok my friend.’ 

He turned back to the other people in the room ‘Right back to work’ he smiled ‘any questions?’ he saw a sea of stunned faces ‘Right can I suggest that Minhyuk goes with Mike and Woosung and makes some plans, Dani take your husband away and I need to talk to Kihyun with Shownu’ There was a second’s delay before there was an eruption of activity and multiple conversations taking place as people moved out of the room. Hoseok watched Kihyun grab Shownu’s arm and pull him to one side of the room and an animated conversation was taking place. He had a sudden feeling of dread when seeing the look on the small mans face and hoped his friend could alleviate whatever concerns he was expressing. He looked up into a pair of bright dark eyes watching him from across the room ‘Come here’ he mouthed and watched the tall man move gracefully towards him. As he got close Hoseok stretched out his hand to take his, but he manoeuvred around the arm to step into his arms, he immediately hugged him close feeling the elation in his chest at having him safe and close. He felt Hyungwon place his head on his shoulder and snuggle his face into the crease of his neck. ‘Thank you’ a small voice whispered as his long arms tightened around Hoseok’s waist, his thumbs gently rubbing the small of his back. Hoseok felt the small electrical storms in response to his caresses. ‘For what baby?’ he whispered back turning to kiss his angels forehead ‘For giving me a future, a future I can control.’ Hoseok smiled ‘This is to give you an income and it is good for our company but you can do whatever you want and we will support you, all of us.’ Hoseok could feel his lips spread into a smile against his neck, Hyungwon giggled slightly ‘I’m going to help us build an empire!’ and Hoseok laughed his agreement before moving him away from his chest slightly ‘I have a serious question for you’ he said as Hyungwon stepped back but captured his hands in his. He looked at him with confident eyes before answering ‘Ok, ask me’ but Hoseok felt the grip on his hands tighten. He smiled reassuringly before saying ‘You need to meet with our solicitors, Starship will try and cause trouble’ Hyungwon frowned and started to speak but Hoseok continued ‘Trust me on this one, they will try to make problems so we have to have a plan ready. You need to decide how much of our personal situation you want to disclose to get them to terminate your contract’ Hoseok was surprised when the beautiful man in front of him laughed out loud ‘Hoseok, I left with you in my pyjamas! What more is there to say!’ Hoseok’s eyes glittered in amusement but nodded and said ‘Its entirely up to you but I’m happy for you to disclose everything about our relationship’ He watched fascinated as the young man’s body became more fluid as he stepped back towards him his eyes darkening as he asked in a quiet husky voice ‘And what’s our relationship then?’ Hoseok controlled the urge to sweep everything off his desk and to lift the man in front of him onto it before showing him exactly the meaning of their relationship but the office was still half full of people. Hyungwon had placed his hand against his chest and he was sure he could feel his rapid heartbeat, he nearly swore when he came so close that he caused the merest friction between their groins and Hoseok saw stars. Hyungwon gave a small gasp as the designer came closer removing the tall man’s hand be-tween them so their chests brushed against each other causing his nipples to harden, he leant towards his ear and whispered ‘You’re playing with fire’ before leaning back and watching his fallen angel appear before him, he breathlessly continued ‘Hello baby, I’ve waited so long to see you again, how long until you will be mine?’ 

Suddenly Hyungwon was standing alone and Hoseok had moved to the end of the desk to answer a question from an agitated Shownu, he tried to focus on their conversation, but the blood was hammering in his ears and he knew his face was flushed. He heard the tail-end of their intense talk as he took deep breaths to calm himself…  
‘He’s determined to refuse; he thinks he’s your charity case and I can’t change his mind at the moment. I’m going to take him home and try and talk some sense into him’ Hoseok nodded before answering ‘We don’t have much time, its only 3 weeks, I know he can do this. For god’s sake don’t talk about the outfits again or he will refuse to wear them at the show as well. Just keep me informed my friend’ Shownu gave him a grim smile and walked back to Kihyun who was watching them like a guilt-ridden child. Hoseok sighed deeply and turned back to Hyungwon who had managed to control himself and eradicate all traces of his fallen angel during his conversation with Shownu. He smiled gently at him before suggesting ‘Why don’t you go find Dani and get her help to make an appointment with the solicitors, if you want any of us to go with you get her to check it with our diaries’ Hyungwon nodded and smiled one last time before leaving the office. He heard them laughing in the outer office as he sat down at his desk again and let out the breath he had been holding. He wasn’t sure how he was going to control his need for Hyungwon to be close to him, he wanted him to choose a life with him without being dependant. He was going to support him to be free of Starship and hopefully he would be one of the priorities in his new life. He would have to keep his burning need for him under control until that time.


End file.
